By REYNALD MAGALLON
The quest for the coveted Olympic spot finally begins for EJ Obiena.
The Filipino pole vault star is taking his first shot at securing a 2024 Paris Olympic berth when he sees action in the Stockholm Diamond League-Bauhaus Galan on Sunday, July 2 in Stockholm, Sweden.
The qualifying period for the Olympiad already fired off on Saturday, July 1 and Obiena only needed to clear the standard mark of 5.82 meters to become the first Filipino athlete to book a spot to the Paris Games.
The 27-year-old third best in the world will be joining a star-studded cast led by World No.1 and pole vault superstar Armand Duplantis who will be vying for the gold medal and the Olympic berth right on his home turf.
Joining Obiena and Duplantis are fellow elites Thiago Braz from Brazil, Kurtis Marshall from Australia, Sondre Guttormsen form Norway, Renaude Lavillenie from France, and Ben Brothers of Belgium.
Momentum is definitely on the side of Obiena who has been having a splendid outdoor season so far, landing in the podium in all of his last five competitions.
In fact, Obiena bettered the qualifying mark twice during that stretch – first with the historic performance in the Sparebanken Vest Bergen Jump Challenge in Norway last month where he cleared 6m and became the first Asian to reach the mark and join an elite company.
Obiena followed up the strong showing when he cleared 5.81m in the Diamond League-Bislett Games for a bronze medal finish behind Duplantis and No. 2 Chris Nilsen.
He then capped his warm up for the qualifying season by bettering the mark for the second time with a 5.90m performance in 62nd Ostrava Golden Spike just last Thursday, June 29.
