The pole vault field for the tenth edition of the Sparkassen Indoor Meeting Dortmund continues to take impressive shape. In addition to the previously announced Sam Kendricks (USA), Ben Broeders (Belgium), and Menno Vloon (Netherlands), six more athletes have confirmed their participation on Saturday, January 23, 2027, at the Helmut-Körnig-Halle. Leading the new additions are the world-class Greek jumper Emmanouil “Manolo” Karalis and the Filipino World Championships medalist Ernest John Obiena. They are joined by Matt Ludwig (USA), Ylio Philtjens (Belgium), and the two Germans Oleg Zernikel and Constantin Rutsch from LG Olympia Dortmund.

For Emmanouil Karalis, this marks a return to a familiar competition venue. The Greek athlete had already competed in Dortmund in January 2024, tying for second place with a jump of 5.50 meters. Since then, the 27-year-old has made extraordinary progress. He won bronze at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, followed by silver a year later at the World Championships in Tokyo. He also secured the silver medal at the 2026 World Indoor Championships. In August 2026, Karalis improved his personal best to a sensational 6.20 meters, making him the second-highest pole vaulter in history behind world record holder Armand Duplantis. Indoors, he has already cleared 6.17 meters. He also shares a special connection with Menno Vloon: the two shared the gold medal at the 2025 European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn.

Ernest John Obiena is yet another world-class athlete coming to Dortmund. The 30-year-old from the Philippines won bronze at the 2022 World Championships and silver in 2023. With a personal best of 6.00 meters, he also holds the Asian record. In 2026, Obiena was again among the most successful international pole vaulters, winning, among other events, the historic ISTAF in Berlin with a jump of 5.82 meters.

There, Ylio Philtjens, another new addition to the Dortmund team, took second place. The Belgian, who is only 20 years old, improved his personal best to 5.72 meters at the ISTAF, setting a new Belgian U23 record. Philtjens had already won bronze at the 2025 U20 European Championships, and in 2026 he finished tenth at the European Championships for adults in Birmingham.

For Ylio Philtjens, however, Dortmund is anything but unfamiliar territory. Back in 2020, when he was just 14 years old, the Belgian competed for the first time at one of LG Olympia Dortmund’s regular track and field meets. In the years that followed, he was a regular guest at events in Dortmund. As recently as January 2025, he cleared 5.00 meters at the Indoor Jump’n’Run in the Helmut-Körnig-Halle. Just a year and a half later, his personal best is already 72 centimeters higher. The once-regular junior guest has since become an internationally successful pole vaulter who will now compete against the world’s elite at the anniversary meet alongside his compatriot and Belgian record-holder Ben Broeders.

Matt Ludwig also brings a track record of international success. The American won the Pan American Games in 2023, became the U.S. indoor champion in 2020, and competed at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. His personal best stands at 5.90 meters.

A special return is on the horizon for Oleg Zernikel. The 2024 European Championships bronze medalist in Rome was forced to sit out the entire 2026 competitive season due to injuries. Now, the 31-year-old is able to train pain-free again and is looking forward to his comeback with optimism. He knows the Helmut-Körnig-Halle very well: in 2024, he tied for second place with Karalis at the Sparkassen Indoor Meeting, and in 2025, he finished third. For the upcoming indoor season, Zernikel has set his sights on heights between 5.75 and 5.80 meters and hopes to build on his strong performances from previous years in Dortmund.

Constantin Rutsch will be competing on home turf. The pole vaulter from LG Olympia Dortmund had his most successful season to date in 2026. He pulled off a surprise victory to win the bronze medal at the German Championships in Hanover. Prior to that, he had improved his personal best to 5.52 meters at the Domspringen in Aachen. At the Sparkassen Indoor Meeting, he’ll now have the opportunity to compete against some of the world’s best pole vaulters in front of a home crowd.

With a total of nine athletes from six countries confirmed so far, spectators can look forward to a high-level competition. Three jumpers have already cleared heights of at least six meters. This means the meet record of 5.95 meters, set by American KC Lightfoot in 2022, could also come into play.

Tickets are available online at www.reservix.de as well as at all ticket outlets connected to the Reservix system. All tickets include free travel to and from the event via VRR public transportation (2nd class) throughout the entire network area.