The most-photographed piece of jewellery at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham was not on a medal podium. It hung from Armand Duplantis’ neck all week, and the story behind it has been aired by his wife Desiré Inglander in an interview with Sportskeeda.
The pendant is a cast of the couple’s own hands. Not a stylised motif, but a specific moment: the two of them holding on to each other, captured by a 3D scan and cast into matching pieces they both wear.
“We held hands and then they took a 3D print, so it’s our hands holding each other,” Inglander said.
Duplantis wore his to the top of the runway before every jump in Sunday’s final on 16 August. He cleared 6.10m at the first time of asking and then raised his own championship record to 6.15m.
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First major title as a married man
Birmingham was Duplantis’ first continental or global championship as a husband. He and Inglander married on 12 June at Château de Castellaras in the hills above Cannes, after meeting at a Midsummer party in Sweden in 2020 and getting engaged in the Hamptons in October 2024.
The championship also arrived at a heavy moment. Duplantis had flown home to Sweden shortly before the event for his grandmother’s funeral. She was 92.
“It’s for grandma,” he said after the gold, in comments carried by Sweden Herald.
A duel with Karalis before the record
Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis dragged the final into what Duplantis called “a tough duel,” clearing 6.00m for silver. France’s Baptiste Thiery took bronze at 5.85m.
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“You don’t have much time to rest between jumps, it takes energy,” Duplantis said.
The gold extended his run of consecutive titles at global and continental championships to 13.
“I’m happy with the competition, you have to keep going. I’m not taking anything for granted.”
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