LSU's Mondo Duplantis, JuVaughn Harrison Set to Compete for Olympic Gold
It will be a busy next few days for former LSU stars at the Olympics as Mondo Duplantis and JuVaughn Harrison both qualified for the finals in their respective events.
Duplantis, who has been a popular name for the better part of five years, will finally get to represent Sweden in the pole vaulting final on Tuesday while Harrison represented USA in the high jump early Sunday morning, placing seventh in the final. Harrison jumped 2.33 meters, losing out to the gold winners Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar,
Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy and Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus, who all jumped 2.37 meters.
The former LSU star track athlete will also compete in the long jump final on Sunday at 7:20 p.m. for the U.S. team. Harrison will be the first man to represent the U.S. in both the high jump and long jump since 1912.
As for Duplantis, the former LSU pole vaulter very quickly was able to capture the world record in pole vaulting for both indoor and outdoor events. His 6.18 meter jump outdoors and 6.15 meter jump indoors are both world records and he will prepare for the biggest jump of his life on Tuesday at 5:20 a.m.
Both Duplantis and Harrison are considered among the favorites to win the gold for the long jump and pole vaulting competitions. Harrison jumped 8.13 meters in the qualifying round of the long jump, the second best score while Duplantis cleared 18 feet, 10¼ inches with his qualifying jump.
LSU swimmer Brooks Curry was part of the 4x100 relay that won an Olympic Gold medal a week ago. Curry became the first gold medalist to represent LSU in the pool at the Olympics and helped the relay team take the lead in the event.
He would go on to record a time of 48.84 in the prelims section of the race and became the first LSU swimmer to compete in the 4x100 at the Olympics since Sion Brinn at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Curry was later replaced by Team USA veteran Caeleb Dressel in the final.