TOKYO. – EJ Obiena is out to pick up from his crucial final vault in the qualifying last Saturday when he goes for Olympic glory in the men’s pole vault final Tuesday (6:20 p.m.) at the Japan National Stadium.
In his third and final attempt in the qualifying, Obiena cleared 5.75m to join 11 others in the showdown for the ultimate prize.
For Team EJ, the last vault was all that mattered.
“Erase na‘yungnangyarisa qualifying, back to zero, start from scratch,” said coach Emerson Obiena, adding his son is determined to make up for his disappointing performance last Saturday.
“Relieved akonoongnasukatnani EJ at more relaxed nasiyasa last jump,” Emerson added.
EJ said he’s “chillin” ahead of his big day in the national stadium. He overcame sluggishness in the qualifying to hit 5.75m but the fight for the gold is likely to go way above 6.00, meaning Obienaneeds to surpass his personal best of 5.87m if he intends to finish with a medal.
Obienais up against a star-studded cast led by world record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden and Rio Games champ Thiago Brazas he pursues a special place in Philippine sports history.
Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov will be at the sidelines in the ultimate showdown. “I’ll talk to coach Vitaly for the game plan,” said Obiena.
The Filipino bet will be No. 11 in the order of play after ranking fifth in his group in the qualifying round behind Kc Lightfoot of the United States, Kurtis Marschall of Australia, Renauld Lavillenie of France, and EmmanouilKaralis of Greece.
Also in the final cast are Menno Vloon of the Netherlands, Christopher Nilsen of the USA, Bo Kanda Lita Baehre of Germany, Harry Coppell of Great Britain, Oleg Zernikel of Germany, ErsuSasma of Turkey and Piotr Lisek of Poland. Zernikel was the last final qualifier from Obiena’s group, clearing 5.65m.
Qualifying from Group B were Baehre, Nilsen, Duplantis, Vloon, Braz and Lisek all at 5.75 and Coppell and Sasma at 5.65.
