EJ Obiena vaults into Paris Olympic finals

Metro Manila, Philippines — Philippine medal bet EJ Obiena advanced to the men's pole vault finals at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Saturday afternoon, Aug. 3 (Manila time).

Obiena survived an early exit scare at the Stade de France, finishing seventh in the qualification round.

The 28-year-old Tondo, Manila native skipped to 5.60 meters as his opening height but his two attempts failed to clear the bar.

With only one last try, the World No. 2 passed and proceeded to the next height, 5.70 meters.

Obiena, who holds the Asian and national record in the sport for clearing 6 meters, focused on his target, ran to the bar, and cleanly vaulted to success.

The Filipino athlete let out a scream of relief as it was his all or nothing bid for redemption on the Olympic stage.

With his three attempts refreshed, Obiena quickly cleared 5.75 meters in one go.

Contenders did not have to jump the 5.80-meter standard as the list was already shaved from 32 to 12 to advance to the final round.

Tied at first place in the qualifiers were World No. 1 Armand Duplantis of Sweden, Sondre Guttormsen of Norway, Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, and Ersu Sasma of Turkey.

Menno Vloon, Sam Kendricks, and Bo Kanda Lita Baehre joined the list of those who cleared 5.75 meters.

Kurtis Marschall and Valters Kreiss completed the finalists even if they only passed 5.70 meters.

Obiena will attempt for a possible 2024 Summer Games gold medal on Tuesday, Aug. 6, at 1 a.m. (Manila time).