EJ Obiena misses Olympic pole vault medal in Paris Games

Metro Manila, Philippines — EJ Obiena narrowly missed the chance to score a victory in his quest for a medal in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

After a dramatic entry to the final round of the men's pole vault, Obiena ranked 4th to end his campaign out of the podium on early Tuesday morning, Aug. 6 (Manila time).

This was an improved outcome from his 11th place at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.

The highest clearance of World No. 2 Obiena was 5.90 meters at the Stade de France.

Emmanouil Karalis of Greece had the same height but he clinched the bronze medal via countback, while World No. 3 Sam Kendricks of United States hurdled 5.95 meters to bag silver.

Sweden's Armand Duplantis won the gold medal for being the lone competitor to clear 6 meters. But he also soared to 6.25 meters, resetting Olympic and world records.

The 27-year-old Obiena registered a foul on the third height, 5.80 meters, which hurt him in the fight to the podium against the cleaner record of his friend Karalis.

The Tondo native decided to skip to 5.90 meters and achieved a clean ascent.

Seven out of 12 contenders leaped within the 5.95-meter height, a mark successfully breached only by Duplantis and Kendricks. Obiena, who holds the Asian and national records of 6 meters, knocked off the bar thrice.

Karalis missed the 5.95-meter bar on his first try but opted to use his two chances on the next height, the elusive 6 meters, to no avail. At this point, he was already assured of a bronze finish.

Turkey's Ersu Sasma and Australia's Kurtis Marschall ranked 5th and 6th with their 5.80-meter clearance, while China's Huang Bokai and Norway's Sondre Guttormsen were 7th and 8th after hurdling 5.75 meters.

Germany's Bo Kanda Lita Baehre and Oleg Zernikel, and Netherlands' Menno Vloon placed 9th, 10th, and 11th for passing 5.70 meters; and Latvia's Valters Kreiss was 12th for clearing the opening height of 5.50 meters.

Obiena, who was considered a medal hopeful for the Philippines, survived an early exit scare in the qualifications.

In the lead-up to the Paris Olympics, he admitted that he battled "various physical problems since April."

Obiena was the first Filipino athlete to secure a spot in the 2024 quadrennial showpiece in France through a silver medal finish at the Wanda Diamond League's Bauhaus Galan meet in Stockholm, Sweden in July 2023.