World record holder Armand Duplantis produced a stunning pole vault of 6.07 metres to win the men's Diamond League event in Lausanne.
Sweden's Duplantis was pushed all the way by double world champion Sam Kendricks, who set four season's bests on his way to scaling 6.02m for second place.
Duplantis' 6.07m vault has only been bettered outdoors by Ukraine's former multi-world record holder Sergey Bubka.
A sensational evening of pole vault with some incredible performances in both the men's and women's competitions! And what a showdown between @mondohoss600 and @samkendricks 🔥#LausanneDL 🇨🇭 pic.twitter.com/ES2DeRoxmn — Wanda Diamond League (@Diamond_League) September 2, 2020
The event, at a temporary city centre venue, was exclusively for the pole vault, and Duplantis and American rival Kendricks put on a memorable exhibition.
Brazil's Thiago Braz and France's former world record holder Renaud Lavillenie both failed to clear 5.82m and that left Duplantis and Kendricks to fight it out.
Kendricks, vaulting first, set season's bests by scaling 5.87m, 5.92m, 5.97m and 6.02m, all at the first attempt.
But Duplantis, who set a new world record of 6.18m indoors in Glasgow in February, was equal to it.
Too dark 😑 What an incredible competition between @mondohoss600 and @samkendricks 👏 By far the highlight of my day! Thank you @athletissima for such an incredible competition and for showcasing our event 😍 https://t.co/ZAFPt1Q02h — Holly Bradshaw (@HollyBradshawPV) September 2, 2020
After Kendricks had failed at 6.07m, Duplantis sailed clear to set a new personal best outdoors before he clipped the bar while attempting 6.15m in fading light, which would have been a world record outdoors.
Britain's Holly Bradshaw, who won the women's event at the Diamond League in Stockholm last month, finished second behind Sweden's Angelica Bengtsson.
Bengtsson was the only woman to clear 4.72m, her season's best, while Bradshaw, who cleared 4.69m to win in Stockholm, had to settle for 4.64m as she edged out Switzerland's Angelica Moser and Sweden's Michaela Meijer on count back.
