Desiré Inglander has been by Mondo Duplantis’ side long before the Swedish-American athlete took home the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Duplantis and Inglander first connected at a 2020 party in Stockholm during Sweden’s iconic holiday Midsummer. However, the influencer wasn’t interested at the time.
“The problem was, people flirt in a very different way in Sweden than where I’m from,” the pole vaulter, who grew up in Louisiana but represents Sweden thanks to his mother’s heritage, told Vogue Scandinavia last month.“[Where I’m from] there’s a lot more talking – you talk for a long time. So at the party, I was just trying to talk to Desiré, like ‘Hey, what’s up, I’m Mondo…’ but she didn’t want anything to do with it or me. She just wanted to dance.”
While Inglander wasn’t looking for love at the time, Duplantis didn’t give up and decided to reach out to her via social media. He ultimately won her over and the couple made their Instagram debut the following year. Since then, Inglander has traveled to cheer on Duplantis in his various track and field events.
Inglander was present when Duplantis achieved a major milestone at the Olympics. After he cleared the 6.19m jump with his final attempt, Duplantis ran into the crowd to hug and kiss Inglander.
Keep scrolling to relive Duplantis and Inglander’s relationship timeline:
June 2020
Duplantis and Inglander met at a Midsummer party in Stockholm. After the event, the athlete reached out to Inglander via Snapchat asking to take her on the date. The model ultimately agreed.
“She probably did not think I had good intentions at the start. I had to prove it,” Duplantis recalled in a January 2024 interview with Swedish newspaper Sportbladet. “But if I were in her position, I would not trust someone straight away. You have to prove it with actions and not just words. I had to prove over time that I was a respectable young man! And that I would treat her with respect. It won her over, I think.”
March 2021
The pair made their social media debut. Inglander shared a selfie of her and Duplantis in Istanbul and captioned the snap with a heart emoji.
March 2022
The model watched Duplantis from the stands as he set the new world indoor record for the men’s pole vault during The World Athletics Indoor Championships.
September 2022
The twosome attended the premiere of the documentary about Duplantis titled Born to Fly.
December 2022
Duplantis brought Inglander as his plus one when he was awarded Athlete of the Year in Europe.
August 2023
Inglander and Duplantis posed for a selfie with his medal after he won first place at the World Championships in Hungary.
February 2024
Duplantis and Inglander celebrated their 3rd anniversary.
July 2024
Inglander was by Duplantis’ side as he competed in his second Olympics. After securing the gold medal, Duplantis celebrated his victory by packing on the PDA with Inglander in the crowd.
“I didn’t believe it. I was just waiting for the bar to fall down, but it didn’t. It was really cool,” Inglander said in an interview with SVT Sport after the track star broke the pole vaulting record. “I always believe in him, but it is probably more that it is so unreal. It was awesome, really!”
