MANILA, Philippines – Asia's best and world no. 2 EJ Obiena is moving to the finals of men’s pole vault in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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| Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena advances to finals round on Saturday, August 3, 2024. Photo courtesy: One Sports |
The 28-year-old Obiena was able to clear 5.75 meters and was ranked 7th overall in the qualification match on Saturday, August 3.
Only the Top 12 advanced to the finals, which includes Armand Duplantis of Sweden, who also owns the world record of 6.23 meters, as well as Sam Kendricks of USA.
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| Photo courtesy: Screenshot from OneSports |
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| Photo courtesy: Screenshot from OneSports |
The finals round is set on August 6 at 1 a.m. (Philippine time).
EJ ON A MISSION 🫡
— One Sports (@OneSportsPHL) August 3, 2024
EJ Obiena continues to elevate Filipino pride as he clears 5.75m in the men's pole vault qualifications at #Paris2024!#OlympicGames #100TaongLaban #ParaSaBayan pic.twitter.com/h1272AYpPs
Another big sigh of relief for Obiena was when he was able to clear 5.70m after failing twice in the 5.60m height.
Prior to the Paris Olympics, Obiena revealed some of his physical struggles but he said he will step up on his second straight Olympics stint.
Three years ago, Obiena was not able to achieve podium finish in the Tokyo Olympics after finishing just at joint 11th spot with a 5.70m output.
The Pinoy pole vaulter showed a lot of progress in recent years. He clinched gold medals in the Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games in 2023 then claimed the silver in the World Athletics Championship in the same year.
— The Summit Express
