Ernest John “EJ” Obiena finished fifth at the IAAF Diamond League athletics meet in Zurich, Switzerland on Friday (Manila time) but the Filipino Olympian pole vaulter punched a ticket to the World Athletics Championships next year in Beijing, China.
Obiena’s best jump in Zurich was 5.90 meters, tied for fourth place with Chris Nilsen of the United States. He, however, dropped to 5th overall after the countback.
Despite the setback, this was Obiena's second best jump of the season next to his 5.91-meter performance in Poland 10 days ago. Obiena’s personal best is 6.0 meters which is also the Asian record.
Swedish-American world record holder and reigning Olympic champion Armand Duplantis topped the event at 6.25 meters.
Emmanouil Karalis of Greece finished second with a national record height of 6.20 meters.
Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen completed the podium after clearing 6.0 meters.
Obiena’s performance in Zurich, however, was enough for him to clinch a spot in the World Athletics Championships. The qualifying mark for the event is 5.90 meters.
“5.90m here in Zurich… Thank you @weltklassezurich for always hosting such a wonderful competition,” Obiena wrote on his Instagram account on Friday.
“With this I also qualified for next year’s World Championship,” he added.
Obiena is also set to defend his Asian Games gold medal in Nagoya, Japan next month.
