Ignacius Carell Cruz

Ernest John “EJ” Obiena almost reached the podium after placing 4th in the Men’s Pole Vault Final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Photo Courtesy of Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch.

Obiena, who set the Asian record after clearing 6.00 m last year in the World Athletics Championships, a feat that has never been done before by any person from the vast continent of Asia, failed to clear 5.95 m in three attempts which would have secured him at least the bronze medal.

The gold medal went to Armand Duplantis of Sweden, arguably the greatest pole vaulter in history after setting a new World and Olympic record of 6.25 m to notch his second straight Olympic gold medal.

On the other hand, World No. 3 Sam Kendricks of USA took home the silver after clearing 5.95 m while Emmanouil Karalis of Greece got the bronze despite clearing the same height as Obiena at 5.90 m because of the fewer faults the Greek had.

This was Obiena’s second straight appearance in the Olympic games who significantly improved from his 11th place finish three years ago in Tokyo.

The Tondo-born pole vaulter was off to a fiery start after clearing the 5.50 m and 5.70 m both on his first attempts, a huge improvement from his qualification performance a few days ago wherein he struggled in the 5.60 m, before committing a fault on the 5.80 m, the same height he failed to overcome in Tokyo.

Obiena then decided to skip to the next height of 5.85 m which he easily cleared on his first attempt, followed by the 5.90 m.

Had Obiena breached the top three, it would have been the Philippines first athletics medal since the 1936 Berlin Games and the 28-year-old pole vaulter would have become the first Asian to medal in the Men’s Pole Vault competition in the Olympic games, a feat last achieved by Japan also in that year after snagging the silver.