“6.40m is achievable”

Pole Vault World Record Holder and Paris Olympic Gold medallist Armand “Mondo” Duplantis and PUMA CEO Arne Freundt sat down to talk about how to achieve World Records, how PUMA’s spikes help with that and how high Mondo thinks he could ultimately jump.

Mondo, 2024 was an exceptional year for you. You won Gold at the Olympics in Paris, improved your world record several times and you even beat 400m hurdler and world record holder Karsten Warholm over 100m. What was your personal highlight of the year? 

Mondo: 2024 was a year of dreams for me. I pretty much accomplished all of the major things that I ever wanted to. But of course, you can’t beat the Olympics. For a pole vaulter, it is the pinnacle of our sport and it only comes around every four years. Being able to take advantage of this opportunity and breaking the world record in that way – on the biggest stage that our sport has to offer – is pretty crazy.  

But, the Karsten thing was really cool too. 

Arne, for PUMA 2024 was a Year of Sports with many highlights including the Euros, Copa America, the Olympic Games and the launch of our global brand campaign. What is something you won’t forget about 2024? 

Arne: 2024 was obviously an amazing year. It had so many great sport moments in store for us. But if I need to pick one – and I don’t want to flatter you too much – it was the moment you won the world record. I got goosebumps. First attempt, second attempt, and then, we saw you making the impossible possible. Unbelievable! 

And when you look at how visible our Nitro shoes were during the Olympics, it was an amazing job of the whole team. It really showed how the Nitro technology was enabling our athletes to better their best.

Mondo, you started out in pole vault as a very young child. When did you realize you had what it takes to compete at the highest level and break records? 

Mondo: For as long as I can remember, I always thought that being the best in the world was achievable. I thank my family for giving me the confidence to dare to dream that big. I was a big dreamer when I was younger and my environment allowed me to have these dreams and to really think that I can achieve being the best pole vaulter in history. I always had that confidence. Of course, everything in sport goes up and down to some degree, but that was my biggest goal.

Arne, can you relate to this in your business world? 

Arne: I think the same is true for business. The focus sets the objective for where you want to go. As you mentioned: success is never a straight line and resilience is important. There are ups and downs and you always need to stand up again. If you don’t have the passion about what you do, you don’t have the energy to stand up every single time. 

Mondo: 100%. There’s a lot of people that are very talented, but what differentiates yourself from others is consistency, resilience and determination. You have to be obsessed.

Mondo, was there ever a moment you doubted that you could make it to the very top. If yes, how did you overcome that? 

Mondo: Doubts are very natural. Along the entire journey, you’re going to have ups and downs. The way you deal with difficult moments is character and career-defining. For an athlete and maybe for a person in general. Whether it’s a bad training or a bad competition, I always look forward. That’s the way I am also with success. Whatever happened yesterday was either great or bad, but the only thing that matters is what’s happening right now. You have to live in the moment mentally.

Arne, 2024 was a very challenging year in the industry. Have you ever had any doubts that your strategy is the right one? And how did you keep yourself and your team motivated? 

Arne: I have never doubted our brand elevation strategy, because I know that in markets, where PUMA is a stronger brand, we have more market shares than in weaker markets. We have the proof points for that strategy. Confidence always helps you in a challenging year. Some things did not play out in 2024 as we had anticipated, but what was important in 2024 was that we focused on the controllables, on our strategy. That combination of having a clear vision of where we want to go and having the agility of dealing with unforeseen things is a winning formula for us. 

Mondo: The things that are out of your control should not be dwelled on. That’s what stops progress.

Mondo, how high do you think you can still go after your record at 6.26m last year? 

Mondo: So, we’re at 6,26m right now. It’s crazy because if you had told me this a few years back, it would have been a pinch-me type of thing. But then, when you’re in the situation, you adapt to it and it becomes the new normal. I know what I’m capable of and there’s some more that I can push. I think that 6.30m is probably the target in the near future, and 6.40m is achievable in the next few years.  

Arne, if you look at Puma’s business, where would you like to set the bar? 

Arne: I think we take it the Mondo way. We constantly try to raise the bar each year because I believe that it’s always important to focus on doing better in the next year. I believe our brand elevation strategy is the biggest unlock. 

Mondo, what does technology do in your sports? How do Puma spikes help you jump higher and changing your game? 

Mondo: Before I came onto the scene with PUMA in 2019, pole vault spikes were very flat, non-aggressive, and they had no emphasis on the approach of the jump which made no sense to me and my team. We know that there is a direct correlation of the energy and the speed that you have on the runway and how high you can jump. It was such a perfect match with PUMA from the beginning, because we knew how good of a concept and grasp you had on speed. We wanted to make some kind of mix between a sprint spike and a pole vaulting spike. I think we’ve kind of come to this (spike) and we’re continuing to try to improve and get better and better.  

They are very much lighter and more aggressive with the toe spring than what you used to see years ago in a pole vaulting spike. I think that’s what helps me and allows me to get up to the speeds that I want to create to be able to jump stuff like a world record. 

Arne, sports performance is an important pillar in our brand elevation strategy. Are partnerships with great athletes such as Mondo a game changer for PUMA? 

Arne: Athletes are super important, not only from a marketing perspective, but also from an innovation perspective. As a sports brand it’s super important that we show up with the best athletes and prove that our products perform at the highest levels and enable a better performance. I think that is for sure an important marketing piece, but the learnings we take from an innovation angle are even more important. That we really understand what makes you faster before the jump, what makes you jump higher and that we take these learnings and turn them into a product innovation. 

So, working with a world class athletes like you is the foundation of everything we do. 

Mondo, you jumped 6,25 in Paris to take the gold, which is about the height that was needed for the silver medal. You really are in a league of your own. What keeps you going? 

Mondo: It’s quite strange. I feel like the passion and the fire only grow more and more. Once you get that taste of success and you know what you’re capable of, you hold yourself to a higher standard in some way. 

I don’t really become complacent. I think that real driven and passionate people want to fulfill their potential and they want to achieve what they know they’re capable of. I’ve been fortunate enough the past few years to be at the top of the sport and being able to create a little bit of a margin between me and the rest of the guys. 

When you know what you’re capable of, that’s what you expect of yourself. You expect your best performance and you expect yourself to go out there every time and give it 100%.  

Arne, how is PUMA unique and in a league of its own? 

Arne: As a brand, we are unique in the way, we position ourselves in the world of sports. We really believe that greatness is in everyone’s nature, and we want to be the brand who inspires athletes every day to be their true self. 

We believe in that true self. In a time where everybody just follows others, we believe that in followership there’s no happiness. Happiness is to find your own way and stay true to yourself. Everybody carries some sort of inner greatness and we want to be that brand that unleashes that courage to be yourself.