MANILA – Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena could have called himself an Olympic silver medalist if he had performed his record-breaking feat earlier this month at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Obiena broke the Philippine pole vault record on Saturday (Sunday in the Philippines) by finishing second in the men’s pole vault competitions of the Meeting De Paris, a part of the Wanda Diamond League 2021.
The previous record was 5.87 meter, set by Obiena in June at the World Athletics Continental Tour in Poland in preparation for the Tokyo Games.
The 6-foot-2 pole vaulter cleared 5.91 meters to finish second behind Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Armand Duplantis, who cleared 6.01 meters.
He was competing for the championship with Duplantis but eliminated after two attempts at 5.96 and one at 6.01, both of which he failed to clear.
This was the former University of Santo Tomas star’s second competition since the Tokyo Summer Games. He ranked fifth last week in Lausanne, Switzerland, with 5.52 meters.
The 25-year-old Obiena passed the 5.45-meter clearance on his second attempt. He also needed three attempts to clear the 5.81 meters. As the competition progressed, Obiena heated up and cleared 5.91 meters on the first try before faltering in the final two attempts to settle for a silver medal.
Just like in Tokyo Olympics, the Swedish-American Duplantis was just too good for anyone in the men’s pole vault competition, setting a new meet record of 6.01 meters.
Duplantis, who occupied the fourth spot in Lausanne last week, edged Obiena when he cleared the 5.96 meters in his first try, while the latter struggled in two attempts before passing up.
Duplantis went on to win the gold medal after clearing the 6.01 meters in one try. He attempted a new world record of 6.19 meters, as he did at the Tokyo Olympics, but failed to do so./PN
