EJ Obiena Aims for Finals at World Athletics Championships in Tokyo

MANILA, Philippines — EJ Obiena is set to compete in the pole vault preliminary round at the World Athletics Championships, which commence Saturday evening in Tokyo. The Filipino athlete, who earned a silver medal in 2023 and a bronze in 2022, is determined to confirm his position among the world’s top competitors. Obiena will enter the preliminaries at 6:05 p.m. Manila time, participating in Group A alongside an elite roster led by Sweden’s reigning champion and world record holder, Armand Duplantis. To advance to Monday’s final, athletes must clear a qualifying height of 5.80 meters or rank among the top 12 out of 36 participants. The 29-year-old Olympian currently holds the seventh spot in the global rankings and has consistently cleared 5.80 meters this season at prestigious events such as the Orlen Copernicus Cup in Poland, the PATAFA Pole Vault Challenge in May, and Meeting Madrid last July. Most recently, Obiena secured a bronze medal at the World Athletics Continental Tour in Beijing with a vault of 5.65 meters. In the preliminary lineup, Obiena is slated to compete 12th in Group A. Among his competitors is Duplantis, who currently holds the world’s top ranking and Olympic gold, and who recently set a new world record of 6.29 meters at the Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix. Also in Group A are world No. 4 Kurtis Marschall of Australia, No. 2 Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, and No. 3 Sam Kendricks of the United States, adding intensity to the competition.