MANILA – Pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena became the first Filipino athlete to earn the qualification to the 2024 Summer Olympics to be hosted by Paris, France.
The former University of Santo Tomas athelete clinched the Olympics slot after clearing 5.82 meters in the BAUHAUS-Galan leg of the Diamond League in Stockholm, Sweden on early Monday.
Obiena, the Asian record holder in pole vault, needed two attempts to clear the said entry standard. He also tried to clear 5.95 meters but failed on three tries.
The 6-foot-2 vaulter needed at least 5.82 meters clearance in any of the qualifying tournaments between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024 to make it to the Summer Games.
The 5.82 meters clearance of Obiena in the event, meanwhile, was also good for a runner up finish behind Olympic gold medalist Armand Duplantis, who cleared 6.05 meters.
This will be Obiena’s second Olympics stint after making his debut in Tokyo, Japan in 2021 where he settled for 11th place finish as he struggled with most of his attempts.
The Olympic qualification came weeks after Obiena tallied a personal best and Asian record of 6.00 meters in the Sparebanken Vest Bergen Jump Challenge in Norway.
The 27-year-old Filipino pole vaulter also recently defended his gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games where he tallied a new biennial games record of 5.65 meters.
After that, Obiena has several bronze medal finishes in various pole vault tournaments in the lead up to this Olympic Qualifying tournament in Sweden.
Obiena will plunge back to action on July 7 in the Meeting International de Sotteville tournament in France./PN
