MANILA, Philippines – EJ Obiena advanced to the men’s pole vault final in the Paris Olympics, but not without putting the entire country on the edge of its seat.
On the verge of elimination, Obiena regained his bearings and finished in the top 12 of the qualification to stay in the hunt of ending Philippine athletics’ Olympic medal drought at the Stade de France on Saturday, August 3.
He teetered on the brink of an unprecedented exit after committing back-to-back fouls at 5.60 meters before the pride of Tondo, Manila hit his stride.
Deciding to skip 5.60m and raise the bar to 5.70m, Obiena hurdled the height as he let out a loud roar and pounded his chest, relieved to finally get the proverbial monkey off his back.
He then easily cleared 5.75m in a single attempt to claim his place in the final, where he looks to win the Philippines’ first medal in Olympic athletics since Miguel White won bronze in the men’s 400m hurdles in the 1936 Berlin Games.
Reaching the final required clearing the qualification standard of 5.80m or being among the 12 best performers.
Obiena placed seventh overall, with defending champion Armand Duplantis of Sweden sharing the top spot with Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen, Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis, Turkey’s Ersu Sasma, and Germany’s Oleg Zernikel.
Menno Vloon of the Netherlands finished ahead of Obiena at sixth, while the USA’s Sam Kendricks (8th), China’s Huang Bokai (9th), and Germany’s Bo Kanda Lita Baehre (10th) made the cut as well by clearing 5.75m.
Latvia’s Valters Kreiss and Australia’s Kurtis Marschall completed the top 12 with 5.70m, edging those who also recorded 5.70m via countback for the last two final spots.
The final is scheduled on Monday, August 5 (Tuesday, August 6, Manila time).
Obiena hopes to redeem himself from a frustrating campaign in the Tokyo Olympics three years ago where he settled for 11th place.
Since his maiden Olympic stint, Obiena has improved by leaps and bounds, finishing as runner-up to Duplantis in the World Athletics Championships last year and becoming the only Asian member of the elite six-meter club.
While Duplantis remains the heavy favorite to retain his gold as he owns the world record of 6.24m, Obiena has a promising shot at the podium, with the Swedish star the only Tokyo medalist returning to the finale in Paris.
Tokyo silver medalist Chris Nilsen of the USA failed to make the final with a measly 5.40m, while bronze medalist Thiago Braz of Brazil got suspended for testing positive for ostarine glucuronide, a muscle growth enhancer.
Braz, the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games champion, will be eligible to return in November.
With teammates Nilsen and Jacob Wooten out, Kendricks – the bronze medalist in Rio de Janeiro and a two-time world champion – aims to deliver for the United States after missing action in Tokyo due to the coronavirus.
It was a disappointing event for host France as all of its three bets in Thibaut Collet, Anthony Ammirati, and Robin Emig suffered early exits.
Collet came the closest to advancing to the final with 5.70m, but fell short via countback.
France’s Renaud Lavillenie, who struck gold in the 2012 London Games and previously held the world record, failed to qualify for his home Olympics. – Rappler.com
