STAR-STUDDED: Duplantis, Obiena banner Stockholm tournament

Ernest John Obiena travels to the territory of Olympic and world champion Armand Duplantis when the world No. 2 competes in the BAUHAUS-GALAN meet in Stockholm, Sweden on Sunday.

As the Paris Olympics is fast approaching, Obiena and Duplantis come face-to-face in the tournament that also serves as the seventh leg of the prestigious Diamond League.

The first jump happens at 11:27 p.m.

Also competing in this meet are perennial contenders Sam Kendricks, KC Lightfoot, Clayton Fritsch and Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Christopher Nilsen, all from the United States, Ben Broeders of Belgium and Thibaut Collet of France.

This will be a bit nostalgic for the Asian Games gold medalist as this was the same meet last year where he hit the 5.82-meter mark to qualify for the Summer Games this July.

A few days ago, the Italy-based Obiena shared the silver medal with Emmanouil Karalis of Greece in the Oslo Bislett Games in Norway after getting over 5.72 meters, earning him a cash prize of $6,000 (P351,000).

But it came at the price of having one of his poles snapping during the tournament, forcing him to borrow poles from Lightfoot and Menno Vloon of the Netherlands.

This is the second time Obiena broke his poles this year after experiencing the same thing at the 63rd Ostrava Golden Spike in Ostrava, Czech Republic last Wednesday.

There, Obiena only finished seventh after clearing 5.52 meters as one of his poles broke in half in the middle of the tournament.

Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association secretary general Jasper Tanhueco told DAILY TRIBUNE that more than making a podium finish, the association wishes Obiena’s safety while assuring that the federation is constantly communicating with him to address the situation with his poles.

“We believe that EJ will excel despite the challenges with his poles. Most importantly, we are hoping for his safety during the competition,” Tanhueco said.

“We are actively assisting him in ordering a new set of poles.”