We speak to the Swede who stepped in to help her son, Mondo, at high school and has been a key component in his rise to success on the global stage in the pole vault

Helena Duplantis grew up with athletics. Her father was the head of her local club in Sweden and competed in pole vault until the age of 80. There are pictures of her as a three-year-old playing in the long jump pit.

After competing in her first track meeting at the age of six, she developed into an all-round talent, representing her country in the hepathlon. A scholarship to Louisiana State University (LSU) took her to the USA in 1985, where she met her husband Greg, also a pole vaulter.

They have four children who were all encouraged to be involved in sport but it is their son, Mondo, who has risen to global prominence, seemingly making it his mission to create pole vault history at every turn.

The serial world record-breaker, also the reigning Olympic, world and European champion, is coached by his parents, who also work with Belgian former European under-23 champion Ben Broeders. Greg looks after pole vault specific elements while Helena focuses on strength and conditioning. It is a recipe that certainly works.

Who were your first coaching influences?

I started running track when I was really young. My dad was my coach and then I moved because he felt like he didnt have the experience to coach me to the next level.

I got a coach in a different town and one more after that before I went to LSU.

When I got there, I worked with the coaches that were on staff there people like Loren Seagrave and Dan Pfaff.

How did your own coaching journey start?

I really didnt think a lot about track as far as being part of coaching, I was just busy with being a soccer mom, a baseball mom and then it wasnt until Mondo started high school that I felt like there was a need for something, if thats what he wanted to do. I felt he needed some more guidance from his coaches.

The system in the United States is so different. Everything is school-based. I was used to the track clubs in Sweden, where you pretty much have the freedom to search for the best coach to fit you, but here you are still confined to what they have available at school.

After his first international meet, when he won the World Youth Championships in Cali 2015, I really felt that Mondo was extremely talented. That was when he started high school, at 15. He quit all the other sports because his older brother had already tried combining baseball and track and field and that was pretty much impossible.

I started getting involved in the high school track and field, but with the girls. Our neighbour was the head coach for the women and he was like: Since you did the heptathlon, you could be a great help for the track. When he offered me the chance to start helping out I thought it would be a good idea, to see what Mondo was actually doing at high school.

Mondos PE coach really didnt care about track at all and then he said: I dont know anything about pole vault, so your dad can take care of that part.

The first two years in high school, Mondo pretty much showed up to track PE and he used to be told: Go and do this in the weight room. Nothing was planned, it was just whatever he felt like doing. They did a little running on their own, too, and there was a little group of three pole vaulters who would come twice a week to our back yard to work on more pole vault specific things.

After two years, the coach left and then the new coach said: I dont know anything about pole vault, you can do whatever you want. Thats when I started writing Mondos workout plan.

What did you start to enjoy about the process?

Ive always loved track and I felt like there was a need for it [specific coaching for Mondo]. The first thing I did was a personal training class and then after that I took a series of USA Track and Field coaching certificates but it was just fun to be able to go to school and be part of your kids sports. 

Could you sum up your philosophy and how you developed it?

I went back and looked at who coached me, what I liked about their styles and what worked for me. And then of course you have to look at the athlete you have. We coach as a team.

I have a relaxed philosophy, but I think that comes from Mondo because he is a very feely person. His training, his jumping, his technique its a lot about feel.

Sometimes I think Im maybe too relaxed but its very much like: What do you feel like? How do you feel today?

Im more flexible. When I grew up and I had a workout, it didnt matter what had gone on that day or how I felt if it was written on the paper, I had to do it and I think in some ways that was detrimental to my development.

I just went back to see how I felt, what worked, what didnt work, and think about what I could do differently as a coach. I think Mondo has an advantage because both myself and Greg could do that and make sure he didnt make the same mistakes we did. Im not an authoritarian coach, for sure.

I think a lot of athletes would relate or react better to that kind of coaching

Some people say things like: Oh my God, can you imagine how much better Mondo would have been if he was more regimented, more on the schedule, more organised and planned? But that kind of environment doesnt fit him. He freaks out if theres too much planning and things are too rigid. It doesnt work for him. Im not saying our approach would work for everybody, but it works for him.

Does being aware of how talented he is create an extra pressure for you and Greg as coaches?

Of course, yes. My approach is that I write the workout plan for Mondo to get better and I listen to the feedback he gives me. In Sweden the whole focus is always to do things [with the aim] of not getting hurt. Thats always at the back of my mind too but [the aim is] always to get better.

Mondo is very level-headed and easy to deal with, too. I know a lot of pole vaulters who like to do very dangerous things [away from the track], but hes not the kind of person who likes to jump out of planes or race fast cars. Hes more at home on the golf course.

Its always in the back of my mind to do the right thing but I dont think we walk around and worry about it all, because I think that would also make Mondo worried.

The focus is always on staying healthy and getting better. If Im stressed it makes him stressed. Im always trying to just take a deep breath and hes so confident and hes so good in what hes doing that I just trust in him.

People forget how young Mondo still is. Have you changed his workouts much as he has developed physically?

Its pretty much the same cycle that we still do and were not planning on making any huge changes. But hes interesting in that if theres something specific I want him to work on and I nag too much hell say: Stop that. Thats boring or its too much detail. Just let me run and jump.

But then if he sees someone else doing something for example, during the World Indoor Championships he watched Marcell Jacobs doing a warm-up/block start before running the 60m he absorbs that and copies it. Thats the way he learned.

Hes not a drills person. Greg isnt either and he always says: Who cares if youre good at drills? Its the result that matters.

He started so very young and he just started because he wanted to jump just like his older brothers. Greg compares the pole vault to playing golf. There are all sorts of drills you can do but it doesnt teach you the actual event because you have to jump the full jump. With golf, are you just going to stop half swing? Is that the drill? When I look back, Mondo has done a lot of jumps in his life.

What piece of advice would you pass on to someone who is interested in being a coach?

Track is so diverse. Pole vault coaching is so different from long distance coaching to sprint coaching. I feel that, if you have the experience, if you have the passion then you have a lot to offer. We definitely need a lot more track coaches.

What do you think are the characteristics of a good coach?

To always know what you dont know. Some people have one way of coaching and thats it. But theres so much to discuss and so many different approaches to coaching an athlete that it feels like you never stop learning.

Its not like: Ive taken this class so now I am a coach. Youre always going to have such different athletes in different situations that it feels like its just an ongoing process. Theres always stuff you can learn.

I love to see what other coaches do and dont do. Everybodys working towards the same goals but everybody has such a different approach.

Where do you find those little moments of satisfaction?

As far as the strength and conditioning goes, if the athletes run well and faster in our little time trials then that makes me really happy. When they improve their running, I think thats the most satisfaction I get. Thats when you can transfer into bigger poles and get faster on the runway.