EJ Obiena continued to soar in the men’s pole vault, climbing to a career-best second place behind reigning Olympic champion Armand Duplantis in the latest world rankings.
The Filipino athlete collected 1432 points to zoom past American Christopher Nilsen, who was in third place (1428 points) as of July 18.
Swedish star Duplantis, meanwhile, amassed 1569 points.
Sam Kendricks of the United States and 2016 Olympic Games champion Thiago Braz of Brazil occupied the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.
The rankings were posted on the website of the global governing body, World Athletics.
”Thank you to everyone who made this possible, and my deepest gratitude to those who went to war so that I could continue this dream. This is not just my accomplishment alone, but everyone’s,” Obiena said on Thursday.
”Maraming salamat Pilipinas sa pagkakataon na iwagayway ang iyong diwa. This dreamer dares to dream,” he added.
Earlier this month, Obiena booked his ticket to the Paris Olympics next year after clearing the qualifying standard of 5.82 meters in a tournament in Sweden.
On July 16, the 27-year-old successfully defended his title at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok by jumping 5.91 meters, a new event record.
He is also the first and only Asian to cross the 6-meter mark.
