At A Glance
- World No. 7 Menno Vloon of the Netherlands headlines the first wave of confirmed athletes who will participate in the Atletang Ayala World Pole Vault Challenge next month in Makati City.
Menno Vloon (Nhnieuws)
World No. 7 Menno Vloon of the Netherlands headlines the first wave of confirmed athletes who will participate in the Atletang Ayala World Pole Vault Challenge next month in Makati City.
The competition revealed the names of the world-class players through Make it Makati’s social media page, with Vloon, and USA’s Austin Miller (No. 14) and Matt Ludwig (No.25) making up the first batch of athletes for the inaugural staging of the tournament.
The World Athletics-sanctioned meet is expected to unveil the other participants before the actual competition on Sept. 20 to 21 at the Ayala Triangle Gardens. World No. 5 EJ Obiena, meanwhile, is expected to go all out and excite his home fans.
The 31-year-old Vloon, a seasoned vaulter who recently copped gold in this year’s European Indoor Championships, has a personal best of 5.96 meters set in 2021.
The two-day joust became a reality after Obiena rallied to bring in the top athletes and compete in his home turf.
He has high-ranking vaulters, including world No. 1 and record holder Mondo Duplantis of Sweden.