Obiena swak sa pole vault finals

TOKYO - Hindi nawalan ng pag-asa si Pinoy pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena matapos mabigong lundagin ang 5.75 meters sa una niyang dalawang attempts.

Nalampasan niya ang matinding pressure sa kanyang Olympic debut para matalon ang 5.75m sa third at final attempt papasok sa Tokyo Games pole vault finals kahapon sa National Stadium.

“I made it to the finals!” wika ng 25-anyos na si Obiena na nakahinga nang maluwag matapos ang muntikan nang kabiguang makalampas sa qualifying round.

“I struggled mentally then I didn’t feel confident. There’s no reason why I felt that way,” dagdag ng Pinoy ace.

Nakatakda ang finals sa Martes kung saan 11 pang pole vaulters ang tatarget sa Olympic gold medal.

“I was sluggish and it was really strange. I didn’t feel like me until the bar was moved to 5.75. Then I moved back to my coach. I don’t want to be negative about it,” sabi ng 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist.

“After my performance, I realized that I need to start moving and feel normal,” dagdag pa nito na makakaharap sa finals sina world record holder Armand Duplantis ng Sweden at reigning Olympic champion Thiago Braz ng Brazil.

Hawak ni Duplantis ang world record sa kanyang 6.18m at may season best na 6.10m.

Ang iba pang nagtala ng 5.75m papasok sa finals ay sina Kc Lightfoot ng US, Kurtis Marschall ng Australia, Renauld Lavillenie ng France at Emmanouil Karalis ng Greece.

Pasok din sina Menno Vloon ng the Netherlands, Christopher Nilsen ng USA, Bo Kanda Lita Baehre at Oleg Zernikel ng Germany, Harry Coppell ng Great Britain, Ersu Sasma ng Turkey at Piotr Lisek ng Poland.

Si Zernikel ang final qualifier mula sa grupo ni Obiena matapos magtala ng 5.65m.