A near miss dooms EJ Obiena’s bid for an elusive Olympic medal.
Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena finished fourth in the Paris Olympics men’s pole vault after struggling to clear 5.95 meters in the finals at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Tuesday (Philippine time).
EJ decided to use up all of his three tries to clear the said distance, rather than passing and moving straight to the 6.00m standard — a difficult height to clear, but still the Filipino’s personal best. Unfortunately, all three attempts showed a similar story, as his upper body dislodged the bar at the last second each time.
Even with the shock exit, the Filipino pole vaulter exceeded his finish at the Tokyo Olympics, where he finished 11th after struggling to clear 5.80m. In addition, EJ also had a strong showing on Tuesday, easily passing most standards on his first attempts.
After a miss at 5.80m, EJ rebounded in style as he effortlessly cleared 5.85 and 5.90m on his first attempts. Unfortunately, the 5.95m was still too much for the World No. 2 for today. This also comes after he recently revealed he had been facing physical struggles in the leadup to Paris.
Ultimately, there are still many positives to build off in today’s performance, with EJ showing tremendous growth since the last Summer Games. Since Tokyo, EJ has risen to become the World No. 2 pole vaulter and has recorded a personal best of 6.00m. Coming so close to a medal in Paris will undoubtedly serve as fuel for EJ as he continues his journey as an athlete.
Meanwhile, World No. 1 Mondo Duplantis defended his Tokyo gold medal after effortlessly clearing all four distances he jumped in, including the 6.00m, while American Sam Kendricks settled for silver after missing all three attempts in the said distance.
Greece’s Manolo Karalis ended his campaign in with a bronze medal as he surpassed his fourth-place finish in the Tokyo Olympics.
Banner Image from AFP.
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