In the midst of a technological revolution in athletics, the Swede amazes despite the lack of innovations in his field. “Other brands are trying changes, but these, from the UCS brand, work so well that they don’t change,” explains Alberto Ruiz, Olympic finalist and coach.
Lake Tahoe, Yosemite Park and many other places are nearby, but here in Minden, a small town in Nevada with just 2,000 inhabitants, the most precious thing is the poles. Yes, the poles. The most important company in the municipality is UCS Spirit, which employs a hundred residents and has been manufacturing poles for more than 30 years, the same poles. There have been no changes, there have been no innovations. It doesn’t matter that athletics is in full technological revolution. Never mind that globalization threatens their dominance. From there came the poles that allowed Sergei Bubka reach 6.15 meters in 1993 and those same poles are now used to fly Armand Duplantisfrom this Monday one centimeter more record holder, and 6.19 meters.
“They are the same, they are lifelong. The great revolution took place in the 80s, when the poles began to bend and various mixtures of plastic material were tested, that is, carbon fiber and fiberglass. Then UCS created his pole, which was the one Bubka used in several of his records and they are still there because it works for them.There are other brands, like Essx, also American, that have been changing more, trying more risky mixtures, but UCS has been manufacturing the pole for many years. same pole and if Duplantis uses it, it works”, analyzes Alberto Ruiz ‘Lobito’pole vault finalist in Los Angeles 1984 and Barcelona 1992, former Spanish record holder and current head of the specialty at the Sant Cugat CAR.
“On the road, especially in the marathon, and on the track, in events like the 400 meters, the carbon fiber plates in the shoes have improved the records, but on the Duplantis pole it is self-explanatory. His records are not they belong to the technological revolution,” he stresses.
New life, same material
In the last two years, since he first broke the world record, Duplantis has changed a lot. Has gained muscle, has settled in Sweden [se form en EEUU], has undergone surgery for myopia, has taken up golf and has even started dating a girl, Desire Inglander, a model, also Swedish. But she has never varied her pole. She dresses them in yellow, the colors of her country, and that’s it. As one of his trainers revealed, Philippe d’EncausseA few months ago, he asked UCS for a tougher model, but that change is part of his evolution. “The pole vaulter always trains to take a slightly harder pole, which gives more response. But we are talking about calibration, like a tennis racket or a Formula 1 tire, not about a change of materials”, adds Alberto Ruiz ‘Lobito ‘.
Today’s coach, like so many other specialists, believes that Duplantis could raise the world record to the skies, up to 6.25 meters or even 6.30, but at the same time he reminds that “the bar must be passed”. “I had been looking for this 6.19 for two years, which shows how difficult it is. He is a special case. He is not the fastest, nor the strongest, nor the most technical, I would say that he is not a role model as he was Bubka, but he has something unique to do what he’s doing,” Ruiz concludes. There are less than two weeks left, until the Indoor World Championships in Belgrade, to find out if Duplantis will quickly overcome 6.20 meters or if the mark will demand as much as 6.19 meters (up to 48 attempts in 17 meetings), but what is clear is that he will do it with the same poles. The future flies with the material of the past.
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