By NIKOLE JAVIER
EJ Obiena came up short of back-to-back podium finishes in the Silesia Diamond League to cap off a busy week in Chorzow, Poland on early Monday, Aug. 26. (Manila time).
The 28-year-old pole vaulter soared past 5.82 meters after breezing through the first four heights only to commit double fouls at 5.92m.
Seeing no success, Obiena then decided to skip his final attempt at 5.92m and went on to raise the mobienaobienaooark to six meters, where he also failed to clear the height and eventually finished in fifth place.
Slipping to the third spot in the world rankings, the Asian record holder was the only one among the remaining five pole vaulters who couldn’t clear 5.92m as he trailed United States’ KC Lightfoot in fourth place, who was good enough for the height to deliver his season-best performance.
Obiena’s good friend Emmanouil Karalis of Greece became the new member of the exclusive 6.00m club after setting a personal best to secure a place in the podium and follow up on his bronze medal finish at the 2024 Paris Games.
Meanwhile, world No. 1 Armand “Mondo” Duplantis continued to rewrite history after resetting the world record in the men’s pole vault for the 10th time with an astounding 6.26 meter clearance after just recently leaping through the 6.25m at the Stade de France in Paris to capture back-to-back Olympic gold medals earlier this month.
Sam Kendricks of the United States, who emerged past Obiena in the rankings after the recently concluded Olympics, also turned in a season’s best effort of 6.00m for the silver medal.
After settling for fourth place in Paris, Obiena picked up the pieces of his heartbreaking campaign and joined the Filipino Olympians for a heroes’ welcome at home and immediately flew to his first competition after the Olympics that saw him secure a joint third place showing in Athletissima in Lausanne, Switzerland earlier this week.
With renewed vigor, the Filipino pole vaulter continued to see an up-and-down campaign and has not cleared the six-meter height in multiple attempts at different competitions more than a year after seeing success at the elusive height in the World Athletics Championships.
