Renaud Lavillenie
Frances 2012 Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie and Swedens world record-holder Mondo Duplantis shared the honours in the inaugural 'Ultimate Garden Clash – Pole Vault Edition', beating arch-rival Sam Kendricks in a unique three-way competition.
The contest, devised by the three pole vaulters on Sunday, was a race to see who could produce most 5m vaults within a 30-minute period, all from their own back gardens amid the coronavirus pandemic which has brought the entire sporting calendar to a grinding halt.
Lavillenie was vaulting from his home in Clermont-Ferrand, Kendricks was competing from his back garden in Oxford, Mississippi, and Duplantis was taking part from his base in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Duplantis took an early lead and Lavillenie was not far off the young Swede's pace. Two-time world champion Kendricks, meanwhile, tried to pace himself from the outset and trailed his opponents in the first half.
Despite an aborted attempt, Duplantis was the first to reach double figures and he had tallied 18 five-metre vaults by the half-way mark. Lavillenie was just one shy of that total with 17 while Kendricks had amassed 12.
In the second half, Duplantis and Lavillenie continued to vault at a similar pace. Duplantis had notched up 25 clearances with 10 minutes remaining while Lavillenie trailed by just one. Kendricks tried to increase his rate of vaulting but had left himself with too much catching up to do.
After a missed attempt from Duplantis, Lavillenie took the lead with two minutes to go as he sailed over his 32nd clearance. His young opponent soon matched that, but Lavillenie kept up his relentless tempo.
By the end of the contest, Lavillenie and Duplantis had each successfully cleared a total of 36 five-metre vaults, beating Kendricks' tally of 26. Following a brief discussion between the top two, they decided to share the victory.
