MANILA – Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena clinched his third podium finish in a week by landing a bronze medal in the Brussels leg of the Diamond League on Saturday in Belgium.
Obiena, the first Filipino athlete to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics, finished in third place in the competition with 5.92 meters, the same height as the United States’ Sam Kendricks.
Kendricks, however, was awarded the silver medal as he cleared 5.92 meters in one attempt, while Obiena netted it in his third try. The two pole vaulters failed to clear the 6.02 mark.
Sweden’s Armand Duplantis, the world’s No. 1 pole vaulter, took home the gold medal after clearing 6.02 meters and 6.10 meters, setting a new meet record without any opposition behind him.
Duplantis, the gold medal winner during the men’s pole vault competition of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, attempted to set a new world record at 6.23 meters but failed to do it in three tries.
Obiena, a former University of Santo Tomas pole vault standout, was happy with his third podium finish in just a week and hopes to continue his consistency in his upcoming tournaments.
Prior to the bronze medal, Obiena won a gold medal in the Internationales Stadionfest (ISTAF) earlier last week with 5.92 meters, followed by a gold in the NetAachen Domspringen tournament with the same clearance.
Before his fruitful week, Obiena had a rare letdown. He finished dead last among 10 pole vaulters in the Zurich leg of the Diamond League two weeks ago.
The 6-foot-3 Obiena will next see action in the Diamond League finals in Eugene, Oregon, on Sept. 16-17, followed by the 19th Asian Games beginning September 22 in Hangzhou, China.
“Happy with the consistency, but definitely lots of things to work on. A few more days in Europe before we head to Eugene for the Diamond League Final,” Obiena said in a Facebook post./PN
