EJ Obiena may have finished just outside the podium at the Fly Athens tournament, but his latest performance could prove to be more significant than another podium finish.
The Filipino pole vault ace finally broke through the 5.80-meter barrier this season, clearing a season-best 5.81 meters at the historic Panathenaic Stadium in Greece to signal that his climb back among the world’s elite is gaining momentum.
Fresh off consecutive gold-medal performances in Poland and Austria, Obiena improved on his previous season-best of 5.78 meters, which he recorded at the ISTAF Indoor meet in Berlin earlier this year. The mark also represented his first clearance above 5.80 meters since last September.
Although the jump was enough to put him in a five-way tie at 5.81 meters, the countback rule ultimately relegated Obiena to fourth place.
The World No. 14 finished level with Emmanouil Karalis, Dutch vaulter Menno Vloon, Turkey’s Ersu Sasma, and France’s Baptiste Thiery. Karalis, the 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medalist, claimed third place on countback, leaving the Filipino just short of another international podium.
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Despite narrowly missing a medal, Obiena welcomed the milestone after weeks of chasing the elusive height.
“I have not seen you 5.80m bar in awhile. I have missed you. Step in the right direction and onto the next,” Obiena wrote in a social media post.
The competition was won by Christopher Nilsen of the United States, who cleared 5.91 meters to secure the title on countback over France’s Thibaut Collet, who also matched the winning height.
Obiena entered Athens carrying strong form after capturing back-to-back outdoor titles. He first won in Poland with a 5.72-meter clearance before topping the Raiffeisen Austrian Open with 5.75 meters, adding another gold medal to his growing collection this season.
His latest result also serves as another encouraging sign after two injury-plagued years that slowed the momentum of the former World No. 2 and Asian record holder, who owns a personal best of 6.00 meters.
The 5.81-meter clearance suggests Obiena is gradually rediscovering the consistency that once made him one of the world’s premier pole vaulters, with bigger competitions still ahead on the international calendar.
His upward trajectory could continue sooner rather than later, as Obiena is scheduled to compete next at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial in Budapest, Hungary on July 14. The Filipino Olympian also shared that he will continue training in Athens under new coach Marcin Szczepanski, expressing confidence that his performances are moving in the right direction as he builds toward the remainder of the season.
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