Secret Aussie dare behind Armand Duplantis viral photo

The real story behind one of the most iconic moments from the Paris Olympics has been revealed with an Aussie behind the drama.

Kurtis Marschall made this happen.

Aussie Kurtis Marschall was secretly the inspiration behind pole vault god Armand “Mondo” Duplantis’ viral celebrations on Tuesday morning.

The Swede elevated himself further into athletics folklore by breaking his own world record with 70,000 fans inside the Stade de France screaming his name.

After clearing the 6.25m mark, Duplantis was understandably fired up and sparked wild scenes when he ran to the fence and celebrated with fans.

After passionately kissing his Swedish model girlfriend Desire Inglander, one of Duplantis’ teammates grabbed him in a physical embrace with the pair then punching each other.

The celebration that has gone viral, however, is the one he executed earlier when setting the Olympic record.

Mimicking Olympic sensation Yusuf Dikec, the Turkish shooting silver medallist who’s laid-back style won him fan across the world, Duplantis put his hand out like he was holding a pistol while sticking his other hand in his pocket.

The world realised he was mimicking Dikec almost immediately and he confirmed it was the motivation behind his act in front of the cameras.

Kurtis Marschall made this happen.

However, the real reason behind the gesture came out on Tuesday night with Duplatis saying it was Marschall that gave him the idea.

“It kind of just happened I guess,” he said.

“Kurtis Marschall, the Australian jumper, I guess he sort of dared me to do it. He was like, ‘Bro, do that Turkish shooter celebration’. And I was like, Yeah, sure’. It sounded pretty cool to. It thought it was a cool meme. He seems like a pretty cool ‘G’ so I l kind of just did it.

“I thought it was more just a funny thing. It was just in the moment, trying to do something funny and cocky.”

Sweden's Armand Duplantis goes viral. Photo by Antonin THUILLIER / AFP.

Duplantis and his teammate were excited. Photo: Stan Sport

Duplantis is one of the world’s most dominant athletes. Picture: Andrej Isakovic/AFP

Duplantis, considered the best of all-time in his field with the world records to prove it, also stands to earn a considerable cash bonus every time he betters the historic marks he keeps setting.

Born and raised in the US but representing the country of his mother, the 24-year-old defended his Olympic title in Paris after clearing 6.25m at the Stade de France.

It was 1cm higher than the previous record he set four months ago at a Diamond League meet in China.

That itself was 1cm better than the 6.23m he cleared in September at a meet in Oregon.

In all, Duplantis has set the world record nine times since 2020 — including two in as many weeks — moving up in 1cm increments from 6.17m during that time.

Sweden's Armand Duplantis set his ninth world record in Paris. Picture: Kirill Kudryavstev/AFP

Duplantis’ winning jump sparked wild celebrations. Picture: Patrick Smith/Getty Images/Andrej Isakovic/AFP

By only raising the bar slightly each time Duplantis earns bonuses of $US50,000 ($A76,000) for the new high-points each time under an incentive from World Athletics.

World Athletics also announced athletes who win gold in each of the 48 track and field events in Paris will receive $US50,000.

So Duplantis is walking away from Paris with a gold medal and some juicy prize money.

SwimSwam’s Braden Keith said on X: “This is simultaneously the greatest troll in sports today and the most genius and entertaining thing in sports today.”

Duplantis himself has admitted the potential pay days motivated him.

“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t,” he said.

The Swede used just four jumps to win gold in Paris, in doing so backing up his title at the Tokyo Games of 2021.

“I haven’t processed how fantastic that moment was,” he told the official Olympic website.

“It’s one of those things that don’t really feel real, such an out-of-body experience. It’s still hard to kind of land right now.

“What can I say? I just broke a world record at the Olympics, the biggest possible stage for a pole vaulter. [My] biggest dream since a kid was to break the world record at the Olympics, and I’ve been able to do that in front of the most ridiculous crowd I’ve ever competed in front of.”

His dominance in the sport has seen him dubbed the Usain Bolt of pole vault.

“Gravity looks like it just works a little bit different for ‘Mondo’ Duplantis,” Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker said on Nine’s coverage of the final.