Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena affirmed his place in the world stage at the close of the 2021 Diamond League in Zurich, Switzerland.
The 24-year-old Obiena, using the stiffest pole he has in his possession, came up with another decent finish of fourth place as he became the first Filipino to reach elite status in the overall standings of the Diamond League series, where he also finished fourth overall.
James Lafferty, Obiena’s strength and conditioning coach, said Obiena’s performance in the Diamond Leagues is a great achievement.
“Making the Diamond League final is a tremendous honour. He’s the first Filipino athlete to achieve this. Ever. Everyone in that Final is best in class and capable of winning an Olympic or World Championship medal on a given day,” said Lafferty in a message to the Manila Standard.
But the evening belonged to Sweden’s Armand Duplantis when he cleared his first ever six-meter vault in Zurich’s Letzigrund Stadium for the gold medal as he took the overall top honors in the Diamond League’s 14th and final leg.
As Duplantis established another meet record of 6.06 meters, the 24-year-old Obiena vaulted to 5.83 meters on his second attempt to settle for fourth position.
And now that it’s over, Duplantis expectedly took the no. 1 spot in the overall standings, collecting 52 points after joining seven events in the Diamond League series.
On the other hand, Obiena included himself in the list of Diamond League top notchers for the first time, making it to overall fourth with the 21 points that he collected from five events that he was in.
“He finished fourth. That’s good. He’s still among the world’s best,” said Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president Philip Juico.
The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising 14 of the best invitation-only athletics events. And only the world’s best are able to compete here.
Obiena first cleared 5.53 meters, before he made it past 5.78 meters on his third try. He ended his feat at 5.83 meters.
Behind Obiena were USA’s Christopher Nilsen and KC Lightfoot, who came in fifth and sixth place, respectively.
An attempt made to go for a new Philippine mark was made. But Obiena’s efforts to make the grade at 5.93 meters on three tries failed.
“He was able to move up to another pole progression, but still needed to find the timing,” said EJ’s dad Emerson.
United States bet Sam Kendricks, who cleared 5.93m in two attempts, settled for the silver.
Russia’s Timur Morgunov took in third with an identical 5.93-meter clearance in two attempts as well.
Overall, Kendricks took second place with 41 points, followed in third by Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Nilsen with 28 points.
Lightfoot and Morgunov were in fifth and sixth, respectively, with 19 and 17 points.
