Your child could be the next Armand Duplantis. But how would you ever know?

Pole vaulter Armand Duplantis is some pup. He is a global sports icon, the closest to proper world-striding recognition in athletics since Usain Bolt. He is effortless in what he does. His winning world championship jump was 6m 30cm, 30cm more than second place! That could take him over your house, if you live in a two storey. He looks like a movie star, he keeps jumping higher than any man who has ever lived and he makes pole vaulting very cool.

The only thing that could derail Duplantis is if, for some reason, he signed for Manchester United. That would soon take the wind of his sails and make him very, very average. He wouldn’t be able to clear a regular high jump with a pole after time there.

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There are physical attributes that make him very good. According to pole vault experts (and believe it or not I’m not ACTUALLY a pole vault expert…) he runs faster than anybody else on the approach – this is both vital and also very tricky when you’re carrying a 17-foot pole than can weigh three kilos. He has an innate understanding of physics, moving the energy of his jump from one part to another, in fractions of a second. And he has a real fearlessness and focus.

Armand Duplantis was destined to become a pole vaulter. His parents were pole vaulters. He started, it is said, when he was three years old. There was a pole vault track and bar in his back garden growing up. I don’t know how big a garden needs to be to get a pole vault track and bar but I don’t think the average council house will have it. 

This is a problem. What if you, or your child, or your friend’s child has it in them to be a world-beating pole vaulter? Or what, if it turns out, there is a latent rower. Or a luge champion, or competitive show jumper. Or any other sport that requires either specific expensive equipment, or being present in a particular expensive location. Elite sports are increasingly for the elite. I don’t know of many state schools that offer fencing or rowing.

And while this is not something that is going to be rectified quickly, there are other pressing problems for anybody interested in taking part in sport. 

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Ahead of the men’s Euros in Germany last year, figures were published showing that just shy of 1,000 public football pitches had been lost in the UK since 2010. In that time, 271 of these went in Scotland.

At present, councils across the UK are tightening their belts on everything. The GMB Union’s research recently found that 500 public swimming pools had closed since 2015. 

Those leisure centres that remain open are frequently running reduced hours due to rising costs, particularly energy. Availability is at a premium. 

While this is at the door of local authorities, they are not closing facilities because they don’t like the smell of chlorine. They, clearly, don’t have the money. 

The benefits of exercise, for physical and mental health, are widely known. There is also a big benefit for parents having somewhere they can take kids, at minimum cost, where the kids can safely tire themselves out. 

In June, Labour pledged £900 million to help sports in Britain grow. Around £500m of that was to help bring major sports events here – like the men’s Euros in 2028 and the 2026 European Athletics Championship. While that is positive, it means only £400m is going to grassroots sports development. In the time following any big sports event the question is always one of legacy. How can there be a positive legacy – which, in short, translates into more people, particularly young people, taking part at a grassroots level – when the public facilities they need just aren’t there? The cycle of decline will continue without more concerted help at the local level from central funds.

Think higher. It’s the Armand Duplantis way.

Paul McNamee is editor of the Big Issue.Read more of his columns here. Follow him on X.

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