Armand Duplantis traded handshakes and hugs with the pole vaulters he'd just beaten to capture his third world championship in Tokyo on Monday.

He took a leisurely walk toward the stands to talk to his parents, his brother, his fiancee.

Then, like any great performer in a jam-packed stadium, he turned around, walked back onstage and delivered the encore the people had been waiting for.

It was another world record – the 14th time he's set it – by clearing the bar at 6.30 meters.

Duplantis cleared it on his third and final attempt. It came more than a half hour after the competitions at the championships were wrapped up for the evening. However, nobody in the crowd of 53,000 would dare walk out on the Swede. And he made a point of wringing every drop of drama out of an experience few in that crowd will soon forget.

"To be able to enjoy this world record with them and give them that is super special," Duplantis said. "Especially considering the last time I was in this stadium, we didn't have any spectators. It was spooky and eerie and super weird, and not very fun, honestly."

The night of his last performance at Japan National Stadium was during the Tokyo Olympics, held a year late in 2021 and without any fans. Duplantis settled for "only" the gold medal that time and missed the world record. The difference, he suspects, was the energy missing during those silent Games.

This time, there was noise and fun – the people clapping in rhythm every time Duplantis lined up – and like any great artist he knew how to play to the crowd.

After clearing 6.10 meters, he imitated Japanese baseball Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki's pre-bat sleeve-tugging routine.

"My brother was in the crowd and he plays baseball, so I was trying to fire him up," Duplantis said. "And the Japanese people, if they understood it, it was just something fun."

"It's doing what I know I'm capable of," he added. "Motivation-wise, it's not that much of a problem. I know the level I can compete at, and I kind of demand that out of myself."

It's hard to blame the crowd for expecting it, too. Duplantis started breaking records on February 8, 2020, and has broken them on three continents and in nine counties. This latest feat puts the height at an even 6.30.

"Six-three sounds really nice, really clean, a new barrier for our sport," he said. "It sounds better than 6.29, for sure."

Ditaji Kambundji of Switzerland won a surprise gold in the women's 100-meter hurdles. She finished in a personal-best 12.24 seconds to hold off world record-holder Tobi Amusan of Nigeria by 0.05 seconds. American Grace Stark took bronze while Masai Russell, who won gold at the Paris Olympics last summer, was fourth.

"You could see on my face how happy I was when I realized I won," Kambundji said.

The most heartbreaking scene on the night was Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali kneeling with his head on the track and his teammate trying to console him after the men's 3,000m steeplechase final.

The two-time world and Olympic champion was pipped to the line by New Zealand's Geordie Beamish who won by 0.07 seconds.

"Congratulations for a good race today but, for me, I'm coming here for a different reason," El Bakkali said.

Alphonce Simbu of Tanzania edged out Amanal Petros of Germany in a wild men's marathon at the World Championships on Monday.

It was a 42.195-kilometer race through the streets of Tokyo that began with a false start and ended with a sprint down the homestretch of the track – but only after Simbu nearly missed the turn into the stadium.

"I have never seen something like this in a marathon," said Petros, after getting nudged out despite lunging and tumbling over the finish line. "It's like the 100 meters."