MANILA, Philippines—World record holder Mondo Duplantis won’t be joining EJ Obiena in the World Pole Vault Challenge slated from September 20 to 21 at Ayala Triangle Gardens in Makati City.

Aside from Duplantis, world No. 2 Emmanouil Karalis of Greece and No. 3 Sam Kendricks of the United States are also not participating in the tournament.

The reigning two-time Olympic champion Duplantis broke the world record for the 13th time with a 6.29m clearance at an athletics meet in Budapest. Kendricks claimed the silver medal in last year’s Paris Olympics while Karalis bagged the bronze.

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Still, the nine-man field bannered by Obiena is expected to deliver a world-class event with a slew of Olympians in the fray following the addition of France’s Thibaut Collet, Poland’s Piotr Lisek, Turkey’s Ersu Sasma, Belgium’s Ben Broeders and Germany’s Oleg Zernikel.

The 25-year-old Sasma heads into the competition with the highest ranking among the competitors at world No. 5. Obiena, who was once ranked No. 2 in the world in 2023, has slipped to No. 7 as of Sept. 2. Sasma placed sixth in the Paris Games.

Collet, currently ranked 12th in the world, holds a personal best of 5.95m, while world No. 15 Lisek has been part of the elite six-meter club since 2017. He has a personal best of 6.02m, which he set in a 2019 outdoor meet in Monaco.

Last week, world No. 6 Menno Vloon of the Netherlands and Americans Austin Miller and Matthew Ludwig were announced as the first batch of participants.

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Vloon, who owns the Dutch national record of 5.96m, also competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he finished in 11th place.

Ludwig, meanwhile, is ranked 23rd in the world. He competed at the Tokyo Olympics as an alternate after Kendricks was ruled out due to COVID-19.

Miller, the world No. 14, just won the 2025 USA National Pole Vault Championship last month with a personal best of 5.92m.