MANILA, Philippines — Filipino pole vault ace Ernest John ‘EJ’ Obiena looks to extend his podium finish streak to three tournaments when he competes at the World Athletics Championships men’s pole vault qualification on September 13 in Tokyo.
The field likely includes household names Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, Sam Kendricks of the United States, as well as reigning World and Olympic champ Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis of Sweden.
If Obiena advances, he will compete in the final on September 15.
Obiena last saw action at the World Athletics Continental Tour last Sunday in Beijing, China, where he snared a bronze medal with a 5.65 meters clearance.
He finished behind gold winner and home bet Zhong Tao and silver medalist Cole Wash of the United States.
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Zhong and Cole both aced 5.75m but the Chinese won via countback (fewer attempts at 5.50m).
Obiena’s bronze medal came after his silver at the Meeting de Madrid in Spain, where he soared above 5.80m last July.
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The 29-year-old seeks another podium finish in Tokyo to build more momentum towards the Atletang Ayala World Pole Vault Challenge at the Ayala Triangle in Makati City on September 20 and 21.
The tournament is the first world class standalone pole vault meet in the country.
It will be the first time that world no. 7 Obiena will defend home court after his 2019 SEA Games conquest in Manila.
Competing in Ayala are world no. 5 Ersu Sasma of Turkey, no. 6 Menno Vloon of the Netherlands, no. 12 Thibaut Collet of France, no. 13 Ben Broeders of Belgium, no. 14 Austin Miller of the United States, no. 15 Piotr Lisek of Poland, no. 16 Oleg Zernikel of Germany, and no. 23 Matt Ludwig of the United States.
