Athletics-Duplantis pulls out of Diamond League Final with back tightness

Sweden's pole ​vault world ​record-holder Mondo Duplantis ‌withdrew from ​the Diamond League Final on Friday with back ‌tightness, raising questions over his fitness a week before the World Athletics Ultimate Championships. The withdrawal ‌is the latest blow for the double ‌Olympic gold medallist, who was forced to pull out of the competition at the London Diamond ⁠League ​meeting ⁠with leg tightness in July.

Duplantis' agent Daniel Wessfeldt told ⁠Swedish media: "He has felt something in his back ​that has spread down into his ⁠legs. He felt that he did not want to ⁠continue." The ​inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships, scheduled for September 11 to 13 in ⁠Budapest, offers a record $10 million prize fund, with ⁠each ⁠individual champion pocketing $150,000, the biggest winner's cheque in track & field history.