Obiena back in Top 10

Two-time Olympian Ernest John Obiena has returned to the world’s top 10 in the World Athletics rankings following his gold medal performance at the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan.

Obiena, 30, climbed from No. 11 after closing his outdoor season with a 5.91-meter clearance that set a new Asiad record.

World record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden remains at No. 1, followed by Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis at No. 2 and Australia’s Kurtis Marschall at No. 3.

“Crawled my way back to the Top 10 in the world. We are so back baby!!!” Obiena posted on social media on his No. 10 placing.

The Athens-based Obiena is now resting after a grueling outdoor campaign in which he recorded a season-best 5.91 meters in Europe before matching that mark in Nagoya.

His return to the top 10 comes after a difficult two-year stretch marked by his failure to reach the podium at the 2024 Paris Olympics and a back injury that affected his campaign. He also slipped to as low as No. 15 in the world rankings.

“For me, this season has been a welcome sight to see. The last two years have been rough for me. Missing the podium in Paris, falling out of the top 10 and falling as low as 15,” Obiena said.

With his Asiad title secured, Obiena is now setting his sights on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where he hopes to finally win an Olympic medal after finishing 11th in Tokyo in 2021 and fourth in Paris in 2024.

“LA is the goal. I defended my title here, and I think I’m, like I said, I have a lot of upside. It’s just a matter of time,” Obiena said.

“We will see. But again, I can’t predict the future. If I could, I would.”