Stockholm Diamond League: Armand Duplantis stunned at home as Marschall ends Swede’s winning run

Stockholm: Olympic champion Armand Duplantis fell short of his bid for a world record at the Stockholm Diamond League on Sunday, suffering a surprise defeat as Australia’s Kurtis Marschall clinched victory with a clearance of 5.90m on his third attempt.

The defeat ended a run of 40 straight victories for the 26-year-old, who admitted he had one eye on his upcoming wedding.

“It was time to lose, it was a very long time since the last time. I can’t fathom that I won 40 in a row, it’s pretty sick, but it’s also sick that I lose in Stockholm, which is the most important competition of the year for me,” Duplantis told Swedish broadcaster SVT.

“This is not the last time I will lose, but I hope it’s the last time I lose in Stockholm. I’m going to make sure of that, that it doesn’t happen again.”

Jumping in front of his home crowd, Duplantis was aiming to improve on his world record of 6.31m and break the mark for the 16th time. But his day got off to a poor start when he hit the bar on his first attempt at 5.60m. The Swede cleared that height at the second attempt and looked to be back on track when he went over 5.80m, but failed in both attempts at 6.00m. His last-ditch effort at 6.05m also came up short, handing Marschall the victory. Duplantis finished second. Agencies

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