EJ Obiena places 9th in World Athletics Indoor Championships

FILE PHOTO. Southeast Asian Games – Athletics – Morodok Techo National Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia – May 8, 2023 Philippines’ EJ Obiena in action during the men’s pole vault. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

EJ Obiena was unable to sustain his momentum from two recent gold medal finishes as he failed to reach the podium in the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships on Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland.

The 28-year-old pole vault ace placed ninth in the 11-man field, clearing 5.65 meters to snap his medal streak in the indoor season.

Obiena needed two attempts to vault his way past the 5.65 meters before he faltered in the next heights at 5.85 meters and 5.90 meters. He skipped both 5.50m and 5.75m en route to an early exit.

The world no. 2 pole vault athlete was coming off a pair of gold medal performances after ruling both the Memorial Josip Gasparac tournament in Croatia and the ISTAF Indoor tournament in Berlin, where he set a new national and Asian record in the indoor pole vault action.

Meanwhile, world no. 1 Armand Duplantis of Sweden soared to yet another gold medal after clearing 6.05 meters and even tried to shatter his personal and global record but he failed to hurdle the 6.24m-mark. The current world record is 6.23, which Duplantis set in 2023.

Sam Kendricks settled for silver while Emmanouil Karalis took home the bronze after registering 5.90m and 5.85m, respectively. 

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA Integrated News