By REY C. LACHICA
PARIS – EJ Obiena put the entire nation on the edge after bungling twice to clear the initial bar he set at 5.60 meters in the preliminary round of the pole vault competition in the Paris Olympics on Saturday, Aug. 3, at the Stade de France here.
But moments later – 15 minutes to be exact after his last jump – he sent his supporters all over the world into frenzied celebration when he made the grade at 5.70 meters.
It was a make or break jump after skipping his last attempt at 5.60 meters. Each participant is given three chances to clear a barrier.
And he did it to the cheers of the whole PH delegation, including his parents – coaches Emerson and Jeanette – who arrived on Friday to watch their son’s bid for Olympic glory.
Even Obiena himself shouted in in extreme delight after clearing the 5.60 meters with everybody watching with bated breath.
Fired up and all, Obiena easily cleared the next barrier at 5.75 meters to make to the final round along with 11 others that include reigning Olympic and world champion Armand Duplantis of Sweden.
Living up to his lofty status, Duplantis had no trouble making to the finals, clearing the barrier with ease – first at 5.60 meters as he opted to skip the standard height at 5.4 meters.
He then sailed over the 5.70m and 5.75m barriers with the grace and might of a soaring eagle, drawing oohs and aahs from the crowd.
The finals is set on Monday, Aug 5, with Obiena needing to exceed his personal best of 6.00 meters by at least .24 meters to have a chance of beating Duplantis.
Obiena holds the Asian record at 6.00 meters which he logged last year but this season, his best is only at 5.95 meters which he did in winning the Irena Szewinska Memorial in Poland last June.
Duplantis owns the world mark at 6.24 meters, a feat everybody believes is hard to topple – at least for this generation.
Aside from Duplantis and Obiena, other finalists include Sondre Guttormsen, Emmanouil Karalis, Ersu Sasma, Menno Vloon, Sam Kendricks, and Bo Kanda Lita Baehre who all cleared 5.75m
Kurtis Marschall, and Valters Kreiss cleared 5.70m enough to make the cut in Group A.
Meanwhile in Group B, only two managed to advance to the next round with Oleg Zernikel and Bokai Huang both clearing 5.75m.
