"The pole vault competition was two hours and 20 minutes old when Mondo Duplantis finally got serious at these World Athletics Championships. The bar had just been pushed six metres. And so Mondo reached into his kitbag and dug out the shoe he calls the Claw. It is a special shoe, with a spike protruding from the end of it, which he only takes it out when he sniffs a world record lurking in the air."
"Duplantis puts on the Claw shoes because it means that in his 20 strides, he can get up to speed quicker, plant the pole quicker and get even higher providing the technique is right. But he doesn't wear the shoe all the time because the first version, introduced last year, had a metal spike that would sometimes lacerate his hand or arm on the way down. Nowadays the spike is protected by a plastic cover."
"He ran to his fiancee Desire Inglander and kissed her. Then he told the 60,000 crowd he loved them too. I am just so happy, he said. I wanted to come back to Tokyo because I knew it was a wonderful city. But it's better than I ever imagined. Thank you guys so much, this was the biggest dream ever come true to me. And, at the"
The competition reached six metres before Mondo Duplantis retrieved his specialized 'Claw' shoe, designed with a forward spike to improve speed and planting. He cleared 6.10m and 6.15m to secure gold, then attempted 6.30m for a world record. The Claw accelerates his 20 strides but was modified after an early version occasionally lacerated his hand; the spike now has a plastic cover. After two narrow misses and a brief distraction from a rival, he used a stiffer pole, cleared the height, and celebrated with his fiancée and the crowd, calling it a dream come true.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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