Jumping more than six meters in the air may seem like a terrifying feat for mere mortals, but for pole vault world record holder Armand Duplantis, kneeling was much scarier.
On Wednesday this week, the 24-year-old Swedish-American pole vaulter – affectionately known as ‘Mondo’ – proposed to his Swedish girlfriend Desiré Inglander, who he rushed after winning his gold medal at the Games Paris Olympics this summer.
Mondo meticulously planned his secret proposal to his 23-year-old content creator girlfriend in the glitzy Hamptons, telling her the pair were taking part in a posh Vogue Scandinavia Photo session.
Surfing proposal: Mondo Duplantis with his future wife after his romantic proposal on a Hamptons beach on Wednesday
The gold-winning pole vaulter told his Swedish girlfriend, 23, that they were going to photograph the couple for Vogue Scandinavia, but he had an engagement ring in his pocket and got down on one knee at sunset.
The couple melted hearts with their passionate embrace after Mondo’s victory in Paris.
In an interview with the magazine, he revealed how nerves got the best of him as the moment approached on Wednesday this week, after telling her that they were simply taking part in a normal fashion photo shoot.
However, with the sun setting on the horizon, Mondo knelt down and asked the question.
He told Vogue Scandinavia: “I was more nervous than at the Olympics.”
The romantic Olympian even arranged for their families to fly to the Hamptons to celebrate the news.
Happy together: the couple has been dating for almost four years after meeting in Sweden
The Swedish model met the pole vaulter at a traditional Mid Summer party in her homeland
And it seems his future wife had no idea either.
She told the publication: ‘I’m still in shock. I’m such a control freak that it’s impossible to surprise me.
However, the pole vault star had another surprise up her sleeve: She had brought her respective families, from Louisiana and Sweden, to celebrate her happy news.
In the summer, the couple provided one of the moments of the Olympics, when they embraced passionately after the Swedish-American pole vaulter broke the world record to win gold.
The 24-year-old was one of the stars of the Paris Olympic Games thanks to his extraordinary talent.
The two embraced each other for a celebratory hug and a kiss worthy of a movie.
In fact, Mondo was so excited while hugging one of his compatriots that the pair began shoving each other and even punching each other in the chest.
The record-breaker then demonstrated his full patriotic spirit by carrying the Swedish flag on his shoulders.
Desire (left) pictured snuggling up with her pole vaulter boyfriend as they enjoyed a luxury beach holiday together.
The athlete has been in a long-term relationship with Desire, from Sweden, where Armand’s mother is from, for almost four years.
The loved up couple reportedly met in 2020 at a summer party in Sweden in 2020, during the festival that celebrates the longest day of the year, where the sun never sets in the country.
The two then hit it off, amid some setbacks involving language barriers and cultural differences: Armand grew up in the US and Desire grew up in Sweden.
Speaking in an interview with sports shovelArmand described the beginning of the couple’s romance.
‘She probably didn’t think I had good intentions at first. I had to prove over time that I was a respectable young man, ha! And that he would treat her with respect. “I think that convinced her,” he admitted cheekily.
The two now seem very much in love, and both regularly post sweet and affectionate pictures on their respective social media posts.
The model has almost 400,000 followers on Instagram and a similar amount on TikTok
Mondo’s journey into show jumping began as a child in his family’s backyard after being inspired by his father, Greg, who also had experience in the sport.
His father, who is American, previously had a pole vault height of 5.80 m after his own career earlier in his life.
Meanwhile, her Swedish mother, Helena, is a former heptathlete and volleyball player.
Armand comes from a family of athletes with his older brother, Andreas, and represented Sweden as a pole vaulter at the 2009 World Junior Championships and at the same event in 2012.
At the age of 17, the Olympian had already surpassed his father’s personal best and finally achieved a breakthrough soon after when he won the European outdoor title in Berlin with a world junior jumping record of 6.05 metres.
Armand is one of only eleven athletes to have won world championships at the junior, junior and senior levels of a sporting event.