EJ Obiena keeps Mondo Duplantis well in sight with Paris Olympics a year away

EJ Obiena clears 6 meters for the second time in his career and snares silver behind Mondo Duplantis. —REUTERS

EJ Obiena on Saturday (early Sunday in Manila) just validated his status as possibly the biggest threat to Armand “Mondo” Duplantis’ pole vault superiority.

And the 27-year-old from Tondo, Manila, can now keep working on how to chop away at that gap that the Swede has after Obiena pulled out a historic silver medal in the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Clearing 6 meters for the second time in his career—the first and only Asian to do it by far—Obiena was able to apply all sorts of pressure on Duplantis, eventually improving on his bronze medal finish in Oregon last year while confirming that he is right on track going to the Paris Olympics next year.

“Overall, it was a brilliant performance and I am sure our country will be joyful over EJ’s World Athletics Championships silver medal,’’ Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president Terry Capistrano told the Inquirer.

“It has a similar value as a silver in the Fifa (International Federation of Football Associations) or Fiba (International Basketball Federation) World Cups,’’ he added.

Duplantis encountered no trouble at all, breezing through 6 m, 6.05 m and 6.10 m, all done without flaw to retain his title before the reigning Olympic champion sought to erase his world record of 6.22 m.

Less than 9 inches

Raising the elevation at 6.23 m and despite the packed crowd at the 36,000-seat National Athletics Centre egging him on, Duplantis failed in logging a new standard.

Obiena is aware that more work must be done in order to keep Duplantis in sight and ultimately negate the latter’s 8.4-inch advantage against his personal best.

“EJ was very good. But very good is not great yet. We have to keep on improving and snapping at the tail of the No. 1 (Duplantis),’’ said Capistrano.

Obiena cleared 5.90 m and 5.95 m without a hitch before vaulting over 6 m on his second try.The Italy-based Asian champion was a lot better than the United States’ second-ranked bet, Christopher Nilsen, who had to share third place with Australia’s Kurtis Marschall after both cleared 5.95 m.

The environs on that section of the field in Budapest absolutely had an Olympic vibe to it, undeniably a preview of the 2024 Paris Olympics with possibly the exact set of world-ranked competitors led by Duplantis on the runway.

This is the second time that Obiena cleared 6 m, solidifying his grip as the continent’s best as he closes out his season as the favorite in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, in October.