Watch live on European Athletics’ YouTube channel from 18:30 CET on Wednesday (28) as the reigning European indoor men's pole vault champion Menno Vloon (NED) comes up against a stacked field, including the two-time world champion Sam Kendricks (USA).
The jumps-only 22nd Springer-Meeting in Cottbus in Germany, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Bronze meeting, brings together stellar international fields in both the men's pole vault and women's high jump.
Kendricks leads the men's pole vault field based on their season's bests from last year, due to his 5.95m vault that placed him a painful fourth at the Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships on countback.
Not far behind him though was Vloon, who finished seventh with 5.90m after winning the Apeldoorn 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships earlier that year with the same height alongside Emmanouil Karalis.
The Dutchman jumped 5.90m or higher five times last year, and will be looking to increase that number this year to improve his chances of a podium finish at the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships.
Vloon and Kendricks have faced off already this season, with the Dutchman taking the win by five centimetres over the former world champion in Dusseldorf on Saturday (25), igniting what could be a tight rivalry this season.
The line-up also includes 2023 world silver medallist EJ Obiena from the Philippines who finished third in Dusseldorf with 5.65m on his season's debut. At his best, Obiena is a 6.00m performer although he hasn't achieved those heights since 2023 when he won silver behind Armand Duplantis in Budapest.
Strong German opposition also present
However, German duo Torben Blech and Bo Kanda Lita Baehre will also be with a great chance of making the top three.
Blech jumped a season's best of 5.80m in 2025 but struggled to find consistency, measuring no heights at two competitions in June and clearing 5.40m in Tokyo.
Lita Baehre also struggled for some consistency last year with six competitions were he measured no height, but he still managed to jump a season's best in Tokyo of 5.75m to place 10th.
This season Blech jumped 5.60m at his opener, while Lita Baehre only managed 5.45m.
The field doesn’t end there though, with USA’s Olympian Matt Ludwig also travelling to Germany after opening his season on 16 January with 5.50m.
2017 European indoor champion Piotr Lisek of Poland, Ukraine’s Oleksandr Onufriyev and Ioannis Rizos of Greece complete the start list.
With five world medals, but none since 2019, Lisek will be keen to move back towards the top of global pole vaulting that is constantly reaching new heights.
The Pole also has five European indoor titles, but is yet to stand on the European podium at an outdoor championships, which could finally change this year in Birmingham.
Germany take on the world in high jump
Meanwhile women's high jump the competition will be even tighter with a high class field of domestic and international athletes.
Ukraine’s Yulia Levchenko leads the entries having both jumped two metres last year with Imke Onnen, also of Germany, close behind with 1.98m. The Ukrainian has won silver at the London 2017 World Athletics Championships alongside two European indoor medals.
For Levchenko, clearing two metres was also not a new accomplishment, although it may have felt unfamiliar as she hadn’t achieved the feat since 2020 and first cleared it in 2017.
Onnen, now 31-years-old, despite her long term overall consistency is also yet to win a global senior medal. Two more Germans are taking the opportunity to compete at home, with Bianca Stichling and Johanna Goring also continuing their 2026 indoor season.
Stichling has competed twice this year, clearing 1.84m at both meets, while European U18 medallist, Goring, has competed once and also cleared 1.84m – her best season opener.
Kazakhstan’s Kristina Ovchinnikova, Estonia’s Elisabeth Pihela , Finland’s Heta Tuuri and Slovenia’s Lia Apostolovski complete the start list of the exciting jumps meet.