Like Oslo and Zurich before it, the Lausanne competition falls into the category of a WDL exhibition event, with this year’s edition of the traditional Athletissima meeting being reserved exclusively for the men’s and women’s pole vaults, which will take place at the Place de l’Europe in this scenic Swiss city.

The women’s event - which will run in parallel to the men’s - is also of the highest qualify, involving world indoor champion Sandi Morris of the United States, Greece’s Rio 2016 champion Ekaterini Stefanidi, Canada’s Commonwealth champion Alysha Newman, Sweden’s Michaela Meijer and Angelica Bengtsson and Britain’s European indoor silver medallist Holly Bradshaw.

A total of 1,000 spectators will be allowed to witness the "City Event" in socially-distanced conditions.

Duplantis, who set world records of 6.17 and 6.18 metres during the 2020 indoor season, produced the best outdoor height of the year so far when he cleared 6.01m at the WDL meeting in Stockholm on August 23.

The 20-year-old European champion, who competes for Sweden but lives in the US, will be seeking six-metres territory again.

"I am starting to get the feeling back that I had at the start of the indoor season," he told World Athletics.

"I feel I am getting into a good shape."

Duplantis faces a formidable field including double world champion Sam Kendricks of the US, Brazil’s Rio 2016 champion Thiago Braz, and Renaud Lavillenie of France, whos world record the Swede broke.

Kendricks, who beat Duplantis to the Doha 2019 world title on countback, has now suffered five consecutive defeats to the Swedish prodigy, but his form appears to be on the rise, as evidenced by his jump of 5.82m in Chorzow in Poland last week.

While Piotr Lisek, who set a meeting record of 6.01m at Lausanne last year, has had to drop out with a calf injury, his Polish compatriot, the ebullient 2011 world champion Pawel Wojciechowski, is also in the field.

Lavillenie, a longtime favourite at the meeting, will need all the support he can get as he makes his return to competitive action having recovered from breaking his left thumb.

Braz also looks in need of a lift, having managed only 5.50m so far this year.

And making a late entry to the event is a US vaulter who has experience of beating Duplantis - 22-year-old Christopher Nilsen, who set a personal best of 5.95m last year in beating his younger rival to the National Collegiate Athletic Association title.

Like Duplantis, Bradshaw also arrives with momentum after her 4.69m victory in Stockholm, her first in Diamond League competition, which was just shy of her 4.73m season's best.

"Last year I finished third at 4.72m," she said.

"This year will be competitive, and I hope to finish in the top two."

Meijer currently tops this season’s rankings with 4.83m and Bengtsson has cleared 4.71m this year, so Sweden will be the nation to beat.

The WDL programme will continue with an exhibition meeting in Brussels on Friday (September 4), followed by the two final scheduled Diamond League meetings in Rome-Naples on September 17 and in Doha on September 25.

A second planned Diamond League meeting in China in October was cancelled on August 28 due to continuing logistical problems thrown up by the coronavirus pandemic.