SAINT-DENIS, France — The pole vaulter they call “Mondo” really can put on a show.

With the rest of the action at the Olympic track wrapped up for the evening and the crowd of 80,000 at the Stade de France still on their feet, Armand Duplantis rested the pole on his right shoulder and took a deep breath. Then, he lifted up that long piece of carbon fiber and took off down the runway and into the night sky.

Another Olympic gold medal already was his. When he came crashing down into the padding on the other side of that sky-high, pink-tinted bar, so was another world record.

Duplantis, the Louisiana-born 24-year-old who competes for his mother’s native Sweden, cleared 20 feet, 6 inches to break the world record for the ninth time — but the first time on his sport’s grandest stage.

His next move was a sprint to the stands to hug his girlfriend and celebrate his record and second Olympic gold with friends and family wearing yellow and blue. The country’s king and queen were on hand, as well, to witness Sweden’s latest history-making leap into the pole vault pit.

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Lyles Is There to See It

It felt only right that the Duplantis drama came with Noah Lyles in the building.

A night after Lyles electrified track with a .005-second victory in the men’s 100 meters, he was on hand to receive his gold medal and watch Duplantis electrify the stadium.

The drama played out over a half hour at the end of the night, long after Keely Hodgkinson captured the first track medal for Britain at this meet in the 800, the evening’s last race.

Early in meets, it’s not uncommon to find Duplantis laying down in the waiting area, biding his time. He often skips lower heights that he knows he can clear, saving up energy for moments like these.

He is a master of pacing and timing, and when the stage becomes his own, he delivers drama like this.

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Crowd Stays to the Dramatic End

After Duplantis sealed the victory over America’s Sam Kendricks, he had the bar moved to one centimeter higher than the world-record height. Following his first miss, he used a break while Lyles was receiving the gold medal for his 100-meter victory, to study video on a tablet with his parents, who met while they were both on the LSU track and field team.

Another miss ensued, then another long break.

All of the racing had ended, but the crowd stayed put.

This time, tension ratcheted up a notch. The fans clapped in rhythm and sang along to the French song “Alleur de Feu” — “Light the Fire” — getting ready for Mondo’s last try.

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Duplantis got ready first by teetering on a foam roller, then removing his shoes, then putting them back on again.

Finally, he stood up, rested the pole against his shoulder and lined up for the last try. When he cleared the bar, he set off a celebration in Sweden — and in France. An hour after the stadium cleared, the song “Dancing Queen” by the Swedish group ABBA was playing loud and proud outside the stadium.

By winning a second straight gold medal and breaking the record for the ninth time — each time by one centimeter — Duplantis is now next to, if not above, Sergei Bubka as the greatest ever in this event.