PARIS, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- World pole vault record-holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden has had to rely on "three angels" to deliver his poles to compete in the Monaco Diamond League slated for Friday.
The 20-yea-old Duplantis, who set the world record of 6.18-meter in February, traveled from his Swedish base to Monaco by plane but failed to find a flight that could take his poles due to the limited flights available.
His mother, who is also his coach, his sister and another friend, completed a 25-hour road trip to drive across Europe with the poles.
"I have three angels by my side and I don't know what I would do without them," he said.
Duplantis will take on world champion Sam Kendricks of the United States and Brazil's Olympic champion Thiago Braz on Friday in what would be the first competitive Diamond League meeting of the season.
"We'll have a great competition against each other, especially since it's been what feels like such a long time. I'm really excited to get out there and start getting after each other again," he said. Enditem
