--- title: "Mondo Duplantis competes at Birmingham 2026 European Championships; seeking fourth consecutive European title." sdDatePublished: "2026-08-10T13:13:00Z" source: "https://www.olympics.com/en/news/mondo-duplantis-new-sense-of-home-jumping-for-something-bigger-than-myself" topics: - name: "sport" identifier: "medtop:15000000" - name: "athletics" identifier: "medtop:20000827" - name: "Olympic Games" identifier: "medtop:20001177" - name: "marriage" identifier: "medtop:20000786" locations: - "Louisiana" - "Birmingham" - "Bexleyheath" - "Monaco" --- Mondo Duplantis competes at Birmingham 2026 European Championships; seeking fourth consecutive European title. Mondo Duplantis on his new sense of home: “I’m jumping for something bigger than myself” Mondo Duplantis on his new sense of home: “I’m jumping for something bigger than myself” Mondo Duplantis tells Olympics.com why marriage has changed his mindset, what home means to him and why he's chasing another milestone at Birmingham 2026. Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis announced himself to the world at his debut European Athletics Championships eight years ago. At Berlin 2018, the prospect became a prodigy when he set a world U20 record of 6.05m to take gold. Eight years on, life has changed a lot for Mondo ahead of the European Championships of Birmingham 2026 , where he will compete for his fourth consecutive title. This time around, he’s one of athletics’ biggest superstars. There’s a ring around his finger. There’s a new place to call home. What does home mean to Mondo, who grew up in Louisiana in the United States to a Swedish mother and U.S. father? “It’s family,” the 26-year-old, who married partner Desiré Inglander and moved to Monaco together this year, told Olympics.com . “It’s Desiré, and I think we can make a home out of anywhere.” Duplantis looked at his ring finger before laughing: “I actually don’t really know if I’m even meant to wear the ring (when competing); I think I’m scratching it up. I just jump in it anywhere, and if I get some bruises, so be it. “I feel really powerful with the ring on. I feel like I’m jumping for something a lot bigger than myself.” 'Very focused and very married' Mondo Duplantis returns to competition hungrier than ever Mondo Duplantis | Born to Fly The intimate story of Mondo Duplantis and his rise to fame from child prodigy to the greatest pole vaulter of all time. By the age of 21, Mondo broke the World Record and won Olympic Gold, accomplishing the lifelong dreams of a passionate child. From the 18-year-old that introduced himself to Berlin, the world has seen pole vault’s luminary grow up in real time, on and off the track. “(This year), it’s been a very tough sacrifice in some ways. Monaco is amazing, we’ve settled in really quickly with the people the weather, the facilities. But we want to be as close to family as possible; that’s the most important thing to me. “I can get really homesick. I’m trying to get my family over there as much as we possibly can. These decisions you have to think hard about, think deeply.” Mondo Duplantis - Paris 2024 - Olympic Games Rewind A second straight Olympic gold and a world record in the final. Watch to see how Swedish pole vault star Duplantis had the whole of the Stade de France in awe. Mondo Duplantis ahead of Birmingham 2026 The last time Duplantis was at the biennial European Championships, it was a leap into another life-changing summer. At Roma 2024, he set the championship record with a 6.10m clearance, just over a month before his 6.25m world record heroics at Paris 2024 . In his eight-year process of sweeping every major championship, he’s set world records at the Olympics, World Athletics Championships and World Athletics Indoor Championships. But there’s a fascinating feat he has yet to achieve: the European Championships remains one of the rare events on the calendar where he hasn’t set one of his world records . He has stated his usual intentions of fixing that feat: “That's something that I have to do,” he said last November. “That'd be great if I was able to do it in Birmingham.” While he has already increased the record in 2026 at 6.31m, his busy year leaves him in an intriguing position ahead of his first appearance at the Alexandra Stadium in Birmingham. In June, he suffered his first defeat in three years , losing on home soil at the Stockholm Diamond League. He returned to win in front of his new 'home crowd' in Monaco but retired after clearing 5.95m in London with bandaging on his thigh. He’s been cleared to compete in Birmingham, with qualifying beginning on Friday (14 August), while the final is a centrepiece of action on the final day on Sunday (16 August). 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham: Mondo Duplantis, Keely Hodgkinson, Jakob Ingebrigtsen lead stars in action – how to watch live By Juliet Nottingham Grace Goulding Athletics | European Championships | Birmingham | United Kingdom