EJ Obiena places 5th in Poland meet

Metro Manila, Philippines — Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena finished fifth at the Silesia Diamond League in Poland on Sunday, Aug. 25, where Armand Duplantis continued to show dominance after resetting the world record again.

At the Silesia Stadium in Chorzow, Obiena cleared 5.62 meters and 5.82 meters in single attempts but the 28-year-old from Tondo struggled at the 5.92-meter height.

During that round, only five pole vaulters made the cut. KC Lightfoot of USA and Duplantis of Sweden breezed over the height.

USA's Sam Kendricks and Greece's Emmanouil Karalis successfully vaulted on their second try.

Obiena, on the other hand, had back-to-back faults. He decided to use his last attempt on 6 meters but he knocked off the bar.

The competition was days after he finished a joint-third at the Lausanne Diamond League in Switzerland.

Kendricks bagged the silver medal in the Poland event after clearing 6 meters. Karalis finally joined the 6-meter club, the first Greek athlete to do so, but he clinched the bronze medal via countback.

Kendricks tried 6.08 meters but it was still not the time for him.

World no. 1 Duplantis won the gold after soaring over 6.26 meters, a centimeter higher from the previous world record that he also set during the Paris 2024 Olympics.