NINE of the world’s top pole vaulters, including Filipino superstar Ernest John Obiena, are set to compete in the Atletang Ayala World Pole Vault Challenge.
The event, which Obiena helped organize to showcase the Philippines as a world-class sports destination, will take place at the Ayala Triangle in Makati City on September 20 and 21.
A Field of Champions
The competition will feature nine athletes, including three who are currently ranked in the top 10 globally.
Obiena, who is ranked No. 7 in the world, has partnered with Ayala Foundation’s Atletang Ayala and the MVP Sports Foundation to make it happen.
The 29-year-old Obiena was a former World Championships’ silver and bronze medalist and an Asian Games winner.
Outside of the Filipino superstar, the most decorated of the lot are world no. 5 Ersu Sasma of Turkey and no. 6 Menno Vloon of the Netherlands.
Sasma was a European Championships’ bronze medalist, a top 8 at the Olympic Games, World Championships, and World Indoor Championships, while Vloon was a European Indoor champion, who also placed thrice in the Top 8 at the World Indoor Championships and was a two-time European Team Championships winner.
The roster also includes two French vaulters, Thibaut Collet (ranked 12th) and Ben Broeders (ranked 13th), as well as American athletes Austin Miller (ranked 14th) and Matt Ludwig (ranked 23rd).
Rounding out the field are Piotr Lisek of Poland, a two-time World Championships medalist (ranked 15th), and Oleg Zernikel of Germany, who is currently ranked 16th.
How to Watch
Tickets for the event are free and will be given away through a raffle.
For those unable to attend in person, the competition will be aired on RPTV and livestreamed on the Pilipinas Live App and the One Sports YouTube channel. Catch-up airings will also be available on One Sports and One Sports+.
For more information, you can visit the official event website https://worldpolevaultph.com/.
