LUCK WAS not on the side of Thomasian pole vault ace EJ Obiena as he failed to qualify for the finals of the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, on Saturday, Sept. 13.
In his fourth go-around at the global tournament, the world’s seventh-ranked pole vaulter only managed to finish tied for 18th in the 36-man field.
Obiena skipped the opening height of 5.40 meters before making easy work of 5.55m with just a single try.
The two-time Olympian, however, struggled to clear 5.70m in two attempts. He tried to use up his third attempt at 5.75m, but to no avail.
Only the Top 12 or those who surpassed 5.80m advanced to the championship round on Sept. 15. It will be led by familiar names like the world’s best Mondo Duplantis of Sweden, Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, Sam Kendricks of USA and Sondre Guttormsen of Norway.
In previous editions, the 29-year-old Obiena bagged bronze in 2022 before upgrading it to silver a year later. He then sat out last year’s tilt after incurring a back injury.
The Tondo-native will come home to Manila for the first-ever Atletang Ayala World Pole Vault Challenge in Makati City, slated for Sept. 20 to 21. F
