Obiena leaves Oslo leg behind

Ernest John Obiena tries his luck again as he competes in the Stockholm leg of the Diamond League on Sunday at the Olympiastadion in Sweden.

Obiena hopes to leave behind his mishap in the Oslo leg of the Diamond League in Norway last week when hostilities start at 11:17 p.m. (Manila time) in the Stockholm leg.

The two-time World Athletics Championships medalist couldn’t land in the top three in the last meet after earning a no mark for failing to get over 5.62 meters after three tries.

“For everyone confused about the result. I no heighted… This is sports sometimes,” Obiena posted on his social media after his loss.

It was the first time for the 29-year-old Italy-based Obiena to get a no mark in the Diamond League and the second time in his career to get a no mark since 2019 at the Gugl Indoor Meeting in Linz, Austria.

Luckily for Obiena, he still has more meets in the Diamond League to make up for his blunder as he earns points to make it into the top six and advance to the final in Zurich from 27 to 28 August.

Obiena will go up against familiar faces once again, led by home bet and world champion Armand Duplantais of Sweden, Paris Olympics silver medalist Sam Kendricks of the United States, Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, Kurtis Marschall of Australia, Ersu Samsa of Turkey, Menno Vloon of the Netherlands and 2012 London Summer Games champion Renaud Lavillenie of France.

Obiena has yet to make it to the top three of this year’s Diamond League since he started last May in China.