EJ Obiena rises to new career-best world number 2

The skinny kid from Tondo grew to be a prolific pole vaulter.

That guy is Ernest John "EJ" Obiena who rose to world number two in the latest ranking released by World Athletics on July 18.

It was a career-best for the Filipino pole vaulting ace following his successful stints in European and Asian meets to accumulate 1432 points.

Obiena replaced former number two Christopher Nielsen of the United States of America (USA) for the spot by four points.

"Your very own skinny kid from Tondo, alumni of CKSC (Chiang Kai Shek College) and UST (University of Santo Tomas), is now WORLD NUMBER TWO," Obiena said on his social media accounts.

"Thank you to everyone who made this possible, and my deepest gratitude to those who went to war so that I could continue this dream," the previous third-ranked Obiena said.

Meanwhile, top-ranked, reigning Olympic gold medalist, and defending world champion Armand Duplantis of Sweden remained the top-ranked pole vault athlete with 1,569 points.

Completing the top five are USA's Sam Kendricks (1352) and Brazil's Thiago Braz (1351).

Obiena, 27 years old, defended his crown in the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships, shattering his 2019 record of 5.71 meters after leaping past the 5.91-meter bar in Bangkok, Thailand last July 16.

This year, Obiena already qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games when he cleared the qualifying standard of 5.82m in the Bauhaus-Galan leg of the annual Wanda Diamond League in Stockholm, Sweden for a silver medal finish.

Last June, Obiena became the first-ever Asian to join the six-meter club following his gold medal stint in the Bergen Jump Challenge.

Overall, the Tokyo 2020 Olympian never missed the podium in the eight competitions he joined, hurdling at 5.80m in five of them.

With continuous success coming his way, Obiena stays committed to achieving higher goals.

"I'm currently still not amazed. I think I'm capable of doing more and doing better," Obiena shared in an online press conference last Monday, July 17. "There are still a lot of things that I need to do and accomplish before Paris."