The Pinoy athlete still has the fighting chance for the elusive Olympic podium finish in Paris.
On Saturday, August 3, the qualifying event for the men’s pole vault event of the Athletics sport in the 2024 Summer Olympic games was held in Paris, France.
World number 2 pole vaulter EJ Obiena from the Philippines represented the country in the event with the hope of making it to the top 12 that will compete in the finals on August 6 (Manila time).
Obiena did not attempt to clear the first 5.40 meter clearance, and instead opted to pursue the 5.60 meter for his first attempt.
However, he was not able to clear it on his first try after hitting the bar, which happened again when he went for his second bid for the same height.
After a slow start, the 28-year-old Filipino athlete was able to warm up and was able to clear the higher 5.70 meter bar on his first attempt.
That enabled Obiena to continue competing in the qualifiers, and was able to join the 5.75 meter clearance.
Again, the Pinoy Olympian was able to clear the height on his first attempt.
The event was then stopped after the 12 total number of qualifying athletes for the finals was met after the 5.75 meter-high bar.
By the end of the Saturday event, Obiena landed sixth in the men’s pole vault category and will be in contention for the finals event on Tuesday, August 6 at 1:00 am (Manila time).
Paris 2024 marks the second time that the Filipino representative will be competing in the men’s pole vault finals.
He participated in the same event during the Tokyo 2020 games belatedly held in July 2021, where he landed at 11th place.
Currently, the Philippines still has no medals in its haul for the Paris Olympics.