EJ’s upward trajectory

EJ Obiena has slipped to No. 14 from a high of No. 2 three years ago in the world pole vault standings but he’s back in the elite circle of competitors after clearing 5.81m in Athens, his new training home, last week. He opened the outdoor season with a jump of 5.74m to take second place at Flight Circus in Dusseldorf last June 14 then fell to a disappointing eighth finish with a lowly clearance of 5.42m in a Diamond discipline meet in Doha five days later.

Obiena’s 5.42m leap was his lowest since recording 5.25m in 2019. That struck him out of invitations to participate in Diamond-category competitions. Before starting his outdoor campaign, Obiena moved camp from Formia, Italy to Athens under new coach Marcin Szczepanski of Poland, working with World No. 2 Emmanouil Karalis of Greece.

After the Doha disaster, Obiena has risen from the doldrums to work his way back to elite status. The trend shows an upward trajectory from 5.64m in Hengelo, Netherlands, to 5.72m in Poznan, Poland to 5.75m in Eisenstadt, Austria to 5.81m in Athens. That’s four straight competitions where Obiena has improved from one meet to another. His 5.81m clearance was his best in the last 29 competitions since jumping 5.82m in 2024. Obiena registered 6.00m twice in 2023 when he zoomed to No. 2 in the rankings and the closest he’s been to duplicating the mark was clearing 5.97m in Bydgoszcz, Poland, in June 2024.

So far, this year, Obiena has participated in 16 competitions with eight podium finishes, including five first places. Despite the landings, his world ranking has declined as it’s mainly determined by clearances not medals. Last year, he joined 22 meets and his top jump was 5.80m thrice with 11 podium finishes, including eight first places.

Obiena himself said “it’s been a while” since he did 5.81m, adding “I hope and believe that it should get better.” Dubai-based CEO and athletics patron Jim Lafferty said the 5.81m leap had enough clearance for 5.91m. “He’s doing good,” said Lafferty. “EJ’s an exceptional, world-class athlete and as disciplined as any athlete I’ve ever worked with. But we have to understand that despite all this, he’s human and he can have an off-day. Doha wasn’t his night. He was moving poles to find his groove and unfortunately, ran out of time. He’s healthy and pumped up with his new training environs and team. I’m confident he’ll put this behind him and register some superb performances going forward.” Sure enough, Obiena has been on the ascent since the Doha debacle.

Lafferty said Obiena’s showing in Athens has brought him back to the Diamond leagues. PATAFA secretary-general Jasper Tanhueco said Obiena is now gearing for meets this coming week. His next competition could be the Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix in Budapest on Thursday with World No. 1 Mondo Duplantis expected to show up. Then, the plan is to move to Madrid for a Continental Tour Silver tournament on Saturday.