Mondo Duplantis Named Finalist For IAAF Rising Star Award


Fresh off a ninth-place performance at the IAAF World Championships in London in August, Lafayette (LA) High senior Mondo Duplantis has been named a finalist for Rising Star Award to be announced in a few weeks. 

The IAAF Athletics Awards will be held in Monaco on November 24. 

American sprinter Christian Coleman and hurdler Karsten Warholm of Norway were also nominated on the men's side. Ukraine's Yuliya Levchenko, Bahraini sprinter Salwa Eid Naser, and Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas were nominated on the women's side. 

Duplantis, the Gatorade National Male Athlete of the Year for 2017, is one of three male finalists and one of six overall. 

Duplantis vaulted 18 feet, 8.41 inches at the IAAF World Championships in August in his first appearance at the senior event. In April, he cleared 19-4.25, setting a new world junior record at the Texas Relays. It was one of two efforts over 19 feet in 2017 across outdoor and indoor competition.

As a junior, he also won his third-straight state title in Louisiana, vaulting 18-2.5, and was fourth at the Prefontaine Classic among professionals, heighting 18-8.75. He cleared at least 18 feet 10 times outdoors and six times indoors in 2017. 


Related Links: