NEWLY-INDUCTED into the elite six-meter club, Ernest John Obiena tests his mettle against a star-studded cast led by reigning Tokyo Olympics and world champion Armand Duplantis of Sweden today in the Bislett Games, the fifth leg of the Wanda Diamond League, in Oslo, Norway.
The 15,000-seat Bistlett Stadium is expected to be packed, with some of the world’s top track and field athletes seeing action in the blue-ribbon competition that began in 1965.
Obiena, who soared to six meters in ruling the Bergen Jump Challenge for a new Asian and national record over the weekend in the city of Bryggen, will battle for the gold at 6:45 p.m. (12:45 a.m. Friday, Manila time).
Aside from Duplantis, the lanky Pinoy pole vaulter will be up against fellow Tokyo Olympics veterans Renauld Lavillenie, the 2012 London Summer Games champion; and American Chris Nilsen and Sam Kendricks, a two-time world champ.
The Swedish sensation, who has a season best of 6.11 meters, is eyeing his fourth straight victory this season in Oslo, but has shown that he is not always invincible, suffering one of his rare defeats last year at the hands of Obiena.
Obiena jumped 5.91 meters in capturing the mint in the Wanda Diamond League leg in Brussels Belgium last September, relegating Duplantis, who holds the world mark of 6.21 meters, to runner-up honors with a lackluster jump of 5.81 meters.
