Obiena bucks shaky start to enter Paris pole vault finals

MANILA – Ernest John "EJ" Obiena booked his place in the finals of the Paris Olympics men's pole vault following the tension-filled qualifications at Stade De France on Saturday afternoon (PH time).

Expected to make the next stage, the world No. 2 pole vaulter almost missed the cut after an early struggle but bounced back to seal his place in the last 12.

The 28-year-old star, who revealed that he suffered a back injury in his pre-Olympic grind, found himself in dire straits as he fouled his first two attempts at 5.6 meters, his starting height.

Knowing that clearing 5.7m could keep him in contention, Obiena skipped his last attempt at 5.6 and went for 5.7 with the danger that he might be eliminated outright if he botched it.

Obiena indeed cleared 5.7m and got a reset of his three tries at 5.75 meters, which he cleared on his first jump.

He was one of 10 to clear 5.75m, thus not needing to clear the qualification standard of 5.8.

World No. 1 Mondo Duplantis and Obiena's Asian rival and training partner Huang Bokai also booked their places in the finals after clearing 5.75.

Australia's Kurtis Marschall and Latvia's Valters Kriess got the callback among those who only made it to the 5.7 level following the countback tiebreaker to complete the cast in the championship round set early Tuesday (PH time).

Team USA's Chris Nilsen, also tagged as an obstacle in Obiena's medal bid, was surprisingly knocked out as he could not go beyond 5.4m.

Obiena, a product of Chiang Kai Shek College and University of Santo Tomas, finished 11th overall in 2021 Tokyo.

Six days before the Olympics formally opened on July 26, he posted on social media that "despite my best efforts at conditioning, fitness and discipline, I have been battling with various physical problems since April."

"I know these things happen. All athletes at an Olympic level deal with such adversities. I know not everything is in my control. I am an optimist by nature. Can I perform at the highest level? YES, I BELIEVE I CAN!" he wrote on July 20.

"I am a proud Filipino and that means I am resilient and have weathered far worse situations. I promise you all I will give not 99% but all 100%!" (PNA)