Yesterday’s Mondo Classic didn’t disappoint, 5 vaulters of 5.90m, 2 over 6m, and a new world record.
If you weren’t able to watch the event, head over to my Instagram @polevaultonline where I comment on a bunch of the jumps and share my thoughts on a number of the vaulters through the competition. You can also check out the official mondoclassic Instagram from high quality videos of many of the jumps.
Surprises
Overall, I was quite surprised to see Manolo (Karalis) only jump 5.80. He has been on fire recently and is now the second highest vaulter of all time, but I can’t help but wonder if he came in too high. His first attempt at 5.80m was a MASSIVE jump but he came down on the bar. His second attempt was an easy clear, but what looked like changing poles at 5.90m meant he could never get his standards right and exited the competition early.
Big congrats to Zach Bradford for getting the bronze and being clean through 5.90m. The reason I’m surprised is actually that Zach only jumped 5.90m. He had several clean and beautiful jumps but at 6m his run and takeoff started to look a little off. In real time, it looked like he was slightly jammed under at takeoff and his top end just wasn’t as clean. This was a huge stage for Zach to jump on and he delivered. I think he’s got 6.05m in him this year for sure.
Mondo
Mondo delivered as expected, but what’s perhaps even more surprising is how he broke the world record. It took only four attempts to win the competition and break a new world record. 4 atttempts!!!!
Mondo’s world records are now getting tougher and tougher. Back when he was clearing low 6.20s, it was clear he had room left. Now that we’re at 6.31m, it took some bar love for this one to stay up. However, his peak height was probably two to three inches in front of the bar. I think we’ll see him raise the world record at least two more times in 2026.
This was perhaps the “coolest” world record you can imagine. It’s at his own meet and his own song was playing in the background.
Other vaulters
Sondre jumped 6m again! I think he’s a 6.10m jumped based on his athleticism, speed, and vault, but in a competition against Manolo and Mondo, it’s clear that Sondre needs to work on his top end. Manolo and Mondo are so precise and in control whereas Sondre’s release off his Pacer Carbon is a bit of a flyover rather than a pike. I absolutely love watching Sondre jump, his takeoff and step are beautiful and if we see his top end get clean I think we’ve got another 20ft jump!
Sam Kendricks was an absolute badass jumping with stitches in his forehead after the meet in Rouen and he jumped a season best 5.90m.
We’ve now got more than 60 people using the AI pole vault coach and to mark the start of the outdoor season we’re giving you a 25% off coupon using OUTDOOR25 at checkout.
We’ve made a few recent updates:
Enhanced pose detection to allow the AI to see more precisely what’s happening in the air.
You’re also able to share the analysis with your vaulter or coach.
We’ve also increased the safety buffer. Many athletes unfortunately only have videos of them vaulting with blocked views, or the AI is unable to see all aspects of the vault. If the AI coach can’t adequately analyze the video, it’ll let you know the AI may deem the vault unsafe.
At the bottom of each analysis you’re now able to give us feedback good or bad so we can continue to improve the AI.
Up next, we’ll be working on refining the output to provide extra clarity as to how the vaulter can improve their inversion as it’s one of the most commonly asked questions.
