AFTER finishing joint third in the first leg at the Lausanne Diamond League, No. 3 world-ranked Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John (EJ) Obiena settled for fifth place in the Silesia Diamond League leg on Sunday. 

Obiena’s post-Olympic era saw him provide an amazing performance despite falling short on this leg. He cleared both 5.62 and 5.82 meters on his first attempts, managing to go up to 5.92 meters. 

Photo Courtesy: EJ Obiena | Facebook

However, the Filipino pole vaulter had another setback, falling twice at 5.92 meters. He attempted to bypass the final attempt by raising the bar to 6.0 meters, but he was unable to surpass it.

Obiena has been experiencing troubles every time the bar exceeds 5.90 meters. In the first leg of the Diamond League in Switzerland, the pole vaulter reached 5.92 meters but failed to clear it after three attempts. 

The Filipino pole vaulter also managed to breeze through the 5.90 meters in the 2024 Paris Olympics, but also failed to surpass the 5.95 mark, finishing in fourth place. 

Duplantis stole the show

Armand Duplantis, Sweden’s No. 1 world-ranked pole vaulter, continues to demonstrate why he deserves to be at the top of the list by breaking his own world record tournament after tournament.

The Paris Olympics gold medalist stole the show once more, as he was the only remaining pole vaulter in the contest. Duplantis destroyed history, setting a new world record of 6.26 meters on only his second attempt. 

The 24-year-old pole vaulter has now broken and established the world record three times in one year, first at 6.25 in the Summer Games and now a centimeter higher. 

American Sam Kendricks finished second after reaching a season-best 6.0 meters on his second attempt. Emmanouil Karalis of Greece won bronze once more, continuing the trend of podium finishes from the Paris Games.

America’s KC Lightfoot finished fourth, one place higher than the world’s third-ranked pole vaulter, Obiena, after clearing 5.92 meters in a season-best effort. 

This would be a good turning point for the Filipino pole vaulter, who has faced ups and downs along the way, as Obiena has indicated a desire to compete again in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. 

Furthermore, it has only been a few weeks since he suffered a devastating loss at the Paris Games. Despite his heavy heart, the pole vaulter wanted to continue competing and regain his world ranking.

Meanwhile, the Diamond League action will resume on Friday, August 30, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, for the third leg.