Obiena thrilled to face Duplantis

Ernest John Obiena is tipped to go all out when he faced world No. 1 Armand Duplantis in an indoor meet in Uppsala, Sweden on 13 March.

Obiena said no less than Duplantis invited him to compete and test his mettle against the best pole vaulters in the world in his hometown in Sweden.

Obiena, the Asian Games gold medalist who used to be the world No. 2 behind Duplantis, is coming off a gold-medal finish in the ORLEN Copernicus Cup last February in Torun, Poland after hitting 5.80 meters.

“So he invited me to compete in his competition on the 13th of March, if I’m not mistaken, in his hometown in Uppsala.”

“That’s something. It’s always going to be the best of the best.”

“I would say that’s the most competitive pole vault competition out there this indoor season, I’m going to say, maybe even more than the world championship, because it’s really it’s just so focused on the event itself and he always gets the best of the best guy so that’s something I’m looking forward to.”

The last time both Obiena and Duplantis faced off was back in the Paris Olympics last year.

Obiena, then nursing a back injury, settled for fourth place after going over 5.95m but missed out on the podium due to countback.

He also capped his outdoor season after the Summer Games to rest and recover.

Meanwhile, Duplantis won his second gold medal in the Summer Games while setting a new world record of 6.25 meters.

The Swedish sensation reset his record by registering 6.26m in the Silesia Diamond League in Chorzow, Poland 20 days after his Olympic triumph. Yesterday, he posted a new world record when he soared past 6.27m in the All-Star Pole Vault in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

Even with the allure of competing against the likes of Duplantis, Paris Games silver medalist Sam Kendricks of the United States, and Olympic bronze medalist Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, Obiena remains focused on making it to the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China from 21 to 23 March.

Obiena needs to hit 5.85m before 9 March to qualify.

“Competing in the World Championships is still on the table for me. Like I said, I’m building steam (for the tournament),” Obiena said.