EJ OBIENA placed joint third in the Athletissima in Lausanne, Switzerland, his first competition after the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Obiena finished in a share of third with Sondre Guttormsen of Norway and Kurtis Marschall of Australia after clearing 5.82 meters on their first try, but were unsuccessful at 5.92 in all three attempts in the Lausanne Diamond League stop.
Olympic bronze medalist Emmanouil Karalis of Greece placed sixth even with a 5.82-meter clearance as he only jumped over the bar on his second attempt. He also failed to clear 5.92 in three attempts.
Reigning Olympic champion Armand "Mondo" Duplantis of Sweden, as expected, ruled the event, followed by Paris silver medalist Sam Kendricks of the United States.
Obiena is competing again after a narrow podium finish in the Paris Olympics where he placed fourth with a clearance of 5.90 meters, but lost the bronze to Karalis due to a tiebreaker.
After the Olympics, Obiena returned to Manila for a brief visit to join his fellow athletes in several events including a heroes’ welcome with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. at Malacanang.
He later came back to Italy to resume his training for competitions for the remainder of the season.
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