Obiena falls short in Zurich, makes Worlds
ERNEST John Obiena may have fallen short of a podium finish in the Zurich leg of the Diamond League, but still vaulted his way to the World Athletics Championships next year in Beijing.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF EJ OBIENA/FB
Share
Ernest John Obiena may have missed out on a berth in the Diamond League Final, but he made sure to leave Switzerland with something more important — a ticket to the World Athletics Championships.
The 30-year-old Filipino pole vault star cleared 5.90 meters to finish fifth in the Zurich leg on Friday, hitting the qualifying standard for the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing.
Obiena’s clearance gave him another major target to chase as he continued to work his way back to the form that made him one of the world’s elite vaulters.
While he ended his Diamond League campaign on a solid note, Obiena fell short of earning enough points to qualify for the Final in Brussels set on 3 and 4 September.
World champion Armand Duplantis of Sweden once again dominated the field, clearing 6.25m to secure the title while Olympic silver medalist Emmanouil Karalis of Greece settled for second at 6.20m and Sondre Guttormsen of Norway completed the podium with 6.00m.
The World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest from 11 to 13 September could also be out of Obiena’s reach as he remains outside the top eight in the qualification standings.
Unless he finds another World Athletics-sanctioned meet before the 1 September deadline, Obiena’s next major assignment will be the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, from 24 to 29 September.
The Zurich performance, however, gave the Filipino superstar a timely boost heading into the final stretch of his season.
“Thank you, Weltklasse Zurich, for always hosting such a wonderful competition,” Obiena posted on social media.
With the Diamond League in the books, Obiena is now shifting his attention to Nagoya, where he will defend the gold medal and continental record that he set in Hangzhou three years ago.
He will face a tough challenge from Huang Bokai of China, Hussain Al-Hizam of Saudi Arabia and Patsapong Amsam-ang of Thailand as he guns for back-to-back Asiad titles.
For Obiena, the road back to the top continues — and 5.90m in Zurich is a good place to start.
