EJ OBIENA seeks a men’s pole vault medal after overcoming some anxious moments in the qualification on Monday at the 2024 Olympic Games at the Stade De France.
Obiena will jump last among the 12 finalists in the competition set at 7 p.m. Paris time (1 a.m. Manila time) in his bid to join two-time gold medalist Carlos Yulo on the board for Team Philippines.
The world's No. 2 pole vaulter will look to show his true wares in its bid to become the first athletics medalist in the Olympics since Miguel White took bronze in the 400m hurdles of the 1936 Olympic Games.
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But before clinching a spot in the final, Obiena had to survive nervy moments that put the Filipino nation on the edge during the qualification.
Obiena fouled his first two attempts at 5.60 meters but finally cleared the bar at 5.70 to stay alive in the competition and avoid an unlikely exit.
His official tally in the qualification is 5.75 to take seventh position entering the final.
Obiena will try to redeem himself in the final where he will be up against 11 other vaulters including world-record holder and reigning Olympic champion Armand Duplantis of Sweden.
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However, it will be a gargantuan task to overcome Duplantis, who holds the world record of 6.24 meters he set last April in Xiamen, China.
As for Obiena, he hit his personal best twice ot 6.00 meters last year in two separate occasions in Budapest, Hungary and Bergen, Norway.
Obiena's season best is 5.97 meters - a mark he set last June in Poland.
In the qualifers, Duplantis reached the 5.75-meter mark with ease, doing so in only two attempts, reasserting the label as the favorite in the competition.
Sondre Guttormsen of Norway is the first in the order followed by Sam Kendricks of the United States, Oleg Zernikel of Germany, Bo Kanda Lita Baehre of Germany, Menro Vloon of Netherlands, Duplantis, Bokai Huang of China, Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, Kurtis Marschall of Australia, Valters Kreiss of Latvia, Ersu Sasma of Turkey, and Obiena.
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