The Albany Gazette - 'Job not quite finished,' warns hungry Duplantis

But the US-born Swede, still just 22, warned ahead of Friday's Diamond League meet in Brussels that motivation was not a problem and that he was "still hungry".

Duplantis is currently streets ahead of his rivals, the Olympic champion having vaulted 6.20m to win the world indoor title in Belgrade in March before rounding off the world outdoor championships in Oregon in July with an incredible vault of 6.21m, the current world record.

"The shape feels good, I have two more competitions, here and in Zurich" for the September 7-8 finals of the Diamond League, the elite one-day track and field circuit.

"The motivation is still there. I'm hungry and there are still some things I want to do.

"It feels like the job is not finished yet. I'll try to attack these last two meets hard... I think I'm capable of something good."

Duplantis, however, was quick to play down any belief that each time he took to the track, it could be to better his world record.

"There are a lot of things that have to line up to be able to attempt something like a world record," he said.

"It's not an every-day thing you can do on repeat.

"It's a combination of a lot of things. First of all you have to be in the right shape -- you have to be ready for it physically and mentally."

Another factor is the weather. "It's really tough with speed and rhythm on the runway if there's wind," he said.

Any record attempt, Duplantis added, would be based on "game-time decisions".

The vaulter's outing in Brussels last year saw him fail in his bid to better his own then-world record of 6.18m.

As a slight chill settled in at the King Baudouin stadium, Duplantis was forced to don his tracksuit as technical officials struggled to raise the bar.

When they finally did, the moment was lost and Duplantis was left to return home with "just" the victory -- and a Brussels meeting record of 6.05m.

Despite that, he insisted Thursday that he loved competing in the Belgian capital.

"It's a beautiful place to jump and it's a place that I can jump high and I have jumped high," he said, admitting that he and his father/coach Greg also liked to sample some Belgian beer.

"I will literally set the bar as high as possible tomorrow."

Duplantis put his incredible success down to "experience at the highest level".

"I'm starting to get pretty comfortable at this kind of level of event.

"With my technique and with my jump I can go into competitions and I can really have 100% trust and belief in my abilities and what I can do."

Duplantis also confirmed he was not immune to pre-event jitters.

"I still have the nerves and the normal little butterflies like everybody else has," he said.

"But as I step out onto the track it turns more into adrenaline and excitement and I'm able to channel that and jump freely."

That he does with aplomb and for his rivals, it has become a question of a seemingly impossible catch-up.

(T.Burkhard--BBZ)