EJ Obiena shoots for pole vault finals in Paris Olympics

PARIS – The Philippines' Ernest John Obiena shoots for a place in the finals of the Paris Olympics pole vault competitions as the 31-athlete qualifying round starts 10 a.m. (4 p.m., PH time) on Saturday at Stade de France.

Obiena has been dealing with lingering back issues since 2022, which have raised concerns about his readiness for the Olympics.

Despite the pain, his confidante, Jim Lafferty, and Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president Terry Capistrano expressed optimism about his recovery.

"He's handling it properly and it's being attended to. He should be okay," Capistrano sad. "He has a physician with him, an Italian physiotherapist, who's part of the team. And Dr. Raul Canlas is also here. Whatever it is, as far as I know, it's manageable."

Obiena's long-time physiotherapist Antonio Guglietta has confirmed that world No. 2 is currently injury-free.

With his impressive track record, Obiena is considered a strong contender for a medal in Paris, having leaped 6 meters twice – on June 10, 2023 at the Sparebanken Vest Bergen Jump Challenge in Norway and on Aug. 26, 2023 at the Budapest World Championship, where he clinched the silver.

However, Capistrano cautioned against underestimating the competition, pointing out that any of the top 10 pole vaulters could achieve a podium finish.

World record holder Armand Duplantis is the clear favorite for breaking the world record an impressive eight times. His most recent record-smasher was a stunning 6.24 meters achieved at the Diamond League meet in Xiamen, China in April.

But the world No. 1 Duplantis is just one of Obiena's worries as the men's pole vault field in Paris is stacked with talent, such as Sam Kendricks (USA, 6.06), Piotr Lisek (Poland, 6.02) and Cris Nielsen (USA, 6.05).

Others similarly capable of clearing heights of 5.9 meters or above include Kurtis Marschall (Australia), Thibaut Collet (France), Ersu Sasma (Turkey) and Jacob Wooten (USA).

Meanwhile, Lauren Hoffman begins her women's 400-meter hurdles bid on Aug. 4 from 6:35 p.m. onwards while John Cabang Tolentino's men's 110-meter hurdles competition starts two days later from 4:50 p.m., both PH time. (PNA)