The Philippines’ Ernest John Obiena is seen through a window as he competes in the Men’s Pole Vault event at the IAAF 2023 Golden Spike Athletics Meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic on June 27, 2023. (Photo by Michal Cizek / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines–EJ Obiena seemed primed up just a few days ahead of the Olympic qualifying season after placing third on Wednesday at the Ostrava Golden Spike 2023 in Czech Republic.
The Filipino pole vault celebrity cleared 5.90 meters, a jump that topped the 2024 Paris Olympic qualification standard of 5.82, but settled for the bronze medal behind world champion Armand Duplantis of Sweden and Australia’s Kurtis Marschall.
“Thank you to everyone who went out and watched us jump some bars. Still lots of figuring out to do,” Obiena posted on his Facebook account.
Duplantis, also the reigning Olympic champion and world-record holder of 6.22m, established a new meet standard of 6.12 in capturing the gold medal in the meet classified as a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold.
Marshall, a two-time Commonwealth Games champion, cleared 5.90 in his first try to claim the silver medal, beating Obiena on countback.
The Olympic qualification season for athletics fires off Saturday with Obiena, the world’s third-ranked vaulter, aiming to become the first Filipino to seal a spot in Paris next year.
Obiena’s return bid to the Olympics begins Sunday at the Bauhaus-Galan meet in Stockholm, Sweden where the 27-year-old Asian record-holder again faces his toughest opposition headlined by Duplantis.
Up next for the Italy-based Obiena is the Meeting International de Sotteville in Rouen, France on July 7 before flying to Bangkok, Thailand on July 12-16 with coach Vitaly Petrov for the Asian Athletics Championship.