Crown still eludes Obiena

The gold medal remains elusive for Ernest John Obiena as he finished third in the men’s pole vault event of the Lausanne leg of the Diamond League at Stade Olympique de la Pontaise in Switzerland early Thursday (Manila time).

Still licking the wounds of a forgettable stint in the Paris Olympics, Obiena posted 5.82 meters for a joint third-place finish together with Sondre Guttormsen of Norway and Kurtis Marschall of Australia.

Aside from the bronze, Obiena, Guttormsen, and Marschall also share the cash prize of $3,500 in this tourney that was ruled by Swedish powerhouse Armand Duplantis and American sensation Sam Kendricks.

Duplantis, who made a lot of heads turn with his record-breaking 6.20-meter performance in the Summer Games last month, posted 6.15 meters to capture the gold medal while Kendricks settled for the silver medal with 5.92 meters.

Olympic gold medalist Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, meanwhile, also logged 5.82 meters but he settled for sixth place as he needed two attempts to clear the bar compared to Obiena, Guttormsen and Marschall, who tried only once.

Thibaut Collet of France took seventh place over 2012 London Olympics gold medalist and fellow French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie via countback despite both of them going over 5.72m.

Obiena currently has 20 points after competing in the Stockholm (second), Oslo (seventh), Paris (fourth), and Lausanne legs of the Diamond League.

The Asian Games gold medalist needs to finish within the top eight to qualify for the final that will be held in Brussels from 13 to 14 September.

Obiena, however, gets a chance to redeem himself as he will be competing anew in the Silesia leg of the Diamond League on 25 August at Silesian Stadium in Chorzow, Poland. Competition starts at 9:34 p.m. (Manila time).

Duplantis, Kendricks, and Karalis, the medalists in the Paris Olympics, are expected to compete in the Silesia leg as well.

Meanwhile, Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richard “Dickie” Bachmann said he remains proud of Obiena’s fourth-place finish in the Summer Games.

Bachmann said Obiena’s fourth-place finish, in which he soared to 5.90 meters, is something to celebrate as it is the best performance of a Filipino trackster in the Summer Games since 1936 in Berlin.

“I’m not a coach but there was something wrong on the road to the Olympics and I’ll leave that to him and his coaching staff on what they will tweak for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics,” Bachmann said.

“His fourth-place finish was the highest in the Philippines in any athletics event since 1936. That’s something we should be proud of.”