PARIS – EJ Obiena narrowly missed a medal finish in the men’s pole vault final at the Paris Olympics, settling for fourth place after clearing 5.80 meters but failing to clear 5.95 meters at the Stade De France early Tuesday (Manila time).
Despite a strong performance, Obiena could not surpass Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis, the United States’ Sam Kendricks, and Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis. Karalis secured the bronze with a countback tiebreaker after skipping 5.95 meters and fouling at six meters.
Kendricks earned the silver by clearing 5.95 meters on his first attempt. Duplantis claimed gold by clearing six meters and breaking the Olympic record with a 6.10-meter jump. He further set a new world record at 6.25 meters on his final attempt, thrilling the crowd.
Obiena’s fourth-place finish significantly improved from his 11th-place result in 2021, especially considering a back injury during his preparation.
In other events, Lauren Hoffman did not advance in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, finishing with a time of 58.28 seconds. Shana Grebo of France and Anna Ryzhykova secured the last two semifinal spots in Heat 3 of the repechage.
Philippine athletics now looks to John Tolentino in the 110-meter hurdles repechage later Tuesday for a potential medal.
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