Promise fulfilled

MANILA, Philippines —   EJ Obiena is slowly inching his way back into the world top 10 pole vault rankings and after clearing 5.91m in Poland early this week, has moved up a notch from No. 13 to No. 12. Last month, he vowed to vault over 5.90m and gave himself 10 days to do it. Obiena was two weeks late in fulfilling his promise but still, got it done.

 Now, Obiena is back in the elite Diamond League circle and this morning (Manila time), he’s booked to compete at the Stade Olympique de la Pontaise in Lausanne, Switzerland, against World No. 1 Mondo Duplantis. He’s also set to join the Silesia Meet at the Stadion Slaski in Chorzow, Poland, this weekend and the Weltklasse Meet at Letzigrund in Zurich, Switzerland, on Aug. 27. The three competitions are the last qualifiers for the Diamond League Final in Brussels on Sept. 4-5. Obiena was a late entry in the three competitions as invitations were sent to him only in the past 48 hours. He hopes the breakthrough will lead to a ticket to the $10 million Ultimate Athletics Championships in Budapest on Sept. 11-13 before defending his crown at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sept. 29.

 “I’m getting more consistent with my run and pushing more,” said Obiena. “I started the season late but I’m slowly entrusting myself to execute. I’m in good shape. The most important competitions are in the latter part of the year. I have more in the tank and I’m going in the right direction.”

 Obiena said it was in 2022 when he realized his jumps were no fluke. “In my first Olympics in 2021, deep down, I didn’t believe I could medal and it manifested,” he said. “Then, I began to break records. I got confident. I could look the best of the best eye-to-eye and proved I wasn’t just a random dude.”

 Next year, Obiena said he’s working with PATAFA president Terry Capistrano to bring in the world’s top athletes, not just vaulters, to Manila. “This will be beneficial to fellow athletes and we could show our hosting ability,” he said. “Hopefully, it will lead to the LA Olympics.”