The international pole vaulters are relishing in Filipino love at the Atletang Ayala World Pole Vault Challenge.
The world’s top pole vaulters are no strangers to traveling all over the world. Take it from American pole vaulter and World No. 23 Matt Ludwig, who is currently in Manila, as of writing, for the Atletang Ayala World Pole Vault Challenge.
“You may see, we’re very fortunate to travel all around the world and go to events like this, do press conferences, interact with the media, interact with the locals,” Ludwig shared during a press conference held on Saturday, September 20, after the competitors got the chance to meet many local fans at the event’s Meet and Greet in One Ayala.
“In my personal experience in the last six years doing this professionally, this has been the most outgoing, the most welcoming community, city, nation as a whole to welcome in just a couple superstars in our sport and really, really show out all the love, all the support…All in all, the welcome into the Philippines has just been warm,” Ludwig added.
The Atletang Ayala World Pole Vault Challenge is a first-of-its-kind event, bannered by EJ Obiena, a two-time Olympian, the current World No. 7, and the biggest reason why this sport has become a phenomenon in the Philippines. It has always been his dream to bring a world-class pole vault competition to his home country, and by partnering with Ayala Foundation’s Atletang Ayala and the MVP Sports Foundation, he was able to make that dream a reality with a two-day tournament in Makati.
At the Atletang Ayala World Pole Vault Challenge, Obiena and his entire organizing team are putting pole vaulting in the spotlight. The first day, Saturday, began with a Meet and Greet for Filipino fans to get to know more about the international competitors, comprised of pole vaulters within the World’s Top 23. This was followed by a national competition held in Ayala Triangle, where local athletes got the chance to compete in front of a huge crowd.
Later today, Sunday, the world’s top-ranked pole vaulters will get their turn to compete — and if the fanfare put on display at the Meet and Greet on the first day was any indication, it’s that they can expect a big crowd to come and cheer them on.
“This is crazy,” shared Oleg Zernikel, who is a fan-favorite in the Philippines, as proven by the many fans who cheered him on and showed up with signs at the Meet and Greet. “I believe we never had something, a competition in pole vault before, so many people are here. I hope tomorrow, it will be a fun time, great atmosphere, and we will see how it will go.”
The rest of the competitors agreed resoundingly.
Austin Miller, a 2025 USA National Pole Vault champion with a personal best of 5.92m, further emphasized what this kind of support means for athletes such as himself.
“Our season goes from January to October at this point. It’s 10 months of jumping and staying focused, and keeping your body at a peak physical level. And especially coming off of the World Championship, we are at the end of our rope,” he explained.
“We are trying to get everything we can out of our body at this point, and when we get incredible energy like we are getting right now, energy that we don’t experience anywhere else in the world, it is a second source of energy that we need at this point in the season.
“So we couldn’t be ending the season in a better place, with better energy, and it’s almost guaranteeing great performances.”
The hype goes two ways. If Filipino fans are excited for the Atletang Ayala World Pole Vault Challenge, where they will get to see world-class pole vaulting first-hand for the first time, the athletes are equally as excited to perform — but perhaps none more so than EJ Obiena himself, for whom this is a dream come true.
“I think our sport deserves a little bit more spotlight. It’s really a spectacle. It’s a beautiful thing to watch, and you guys will experience it firsthand tomorrow,” he shared. “I’m really blessed that I’m able to organize this with my team and all the sponsors. Really make sure that I’m able to give an equal word of an event with the attention that I am getting in the sport itself.”
Images from Make It Makati on Facebook.