By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Filipino pole vaulting sensation EJ Obiena wrapped up his World Athletics Indoor Championships with a sub-par 9th place finish on March 3, 2024, in Glasgow, Scotland.
Fresh off two consecutive international gold medal campaigns in Croatia and Germany during the past weeks, Obiena surprisingly had an off day in Scotland after failing to secure a podium finish.
Obiena only managed to clear the 5.65-meter height and needed two tries after committing a foul in his first attempt.
Up next for the Filipino was the 5.85-meter height which he leaped over numerous times during his past outings. Surprisingly, Obiena failed to complete his routine in back-to-back attempts.
Left with no choice and already in desperation, Obiena decided to raise the height to 5.90-meter with the ultimate plan of salvaging his World Athletics Indoor campaign.
However, Obiena still suffered the same fate and missed his opportunity in his 5.90-meter run, steering him to his worst performance of the season so far.
Winning the prestigious pole vaulting tourney was Armand Duplantis of Sweden with a final leaping score of 6.05-meters.
Completing the list of the podium finishers was Sam Kendricks of USA who bagged the silver medal with a score of 5.90-meters. Grabbing the bronze medal was Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis after settling for 5.85-meters.
