Is Armand Duplantis' gold the easiest bet at the Tokyo 2020?
There are some who compete with others to establish their supremacy. There are others, who compete with themselves, to continue the quest to excellence. falls in the second category, with the American-born Swedish pole vaulter Armand "Mondo" Duplantis, having been on a different Trans altogether since the past 2 years. The signs of his excellence were visible in his attitude at an early age, as he wanted to be and had the belief that he could be the best, when he started practicing in his backyard at Lafayette at the age of three. Armand Duplantis (Source: Eurosport)  Since then, Mondo has come a long way, proving his credentials in both, indoor as well as outdoor events, having recorded the best figures in both. Mondo broke the Indoor record, by covering a distance of 6.17 m in the World Athletics Tour 2020 at Torun, Poland and bettered it to 6.18 m in the World Athletics Tour 2020 at Glasgow, Scotland. The pandemic did bring a standstill in the exploits of the 21-year old pole vaulter, when he was in the form and shape of his career. However, what followed was historic, as he broke the long-standing record of 6.14 m by Ukrainian Sergey Bubka, set in July 1994, with a distance of 6.15 m.    From the journey of a three-year old kid who played in his backyard to the 21-year old athlete with unparalleled heroics, one thing has remained constant; the constant will to excel and succeed. This has once again been testified, as the Swedish athlete feels it's either gold or nothing at the Tokyo Olympics. He says that while it would be a splendid moment to be on the podium at the quadrennial event, being the top pole vaulter at the moment, it is his job to bring gold home. Armand Duplantis (Source: World Athletics)  With the market of conjectures and speculations being at its peak at the outset of the pinnacle of sports, a bet on Armand Duplantis clinching the top spot at the podium seems to be the safest bet. Mondo has recorded a distance of 6.10 m as his best in 2021, as recent as June, in The Netherlands. The next best of the season has been a distant 5.92 m by Renaud Lavillenie of France. Mondo is the top ranked pole vaulter going into the Games, and given the past and present of his exploits, his contention at the gold medal seems to be almost certain. A bigger point to be seen is whether Mondo would be able to beat his own world record, and etch his names in the books of history for the umpteenth time.