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EJ Obiena falls short of Olympic medal, finishes 4th
The Philippine bet Ernest John “EJ” Obiena came so close to ending the country’s 88-year Olympic medal drought in athletics as he placed fourth at the Paris Olympics men’s pole vault at the Stade de France early Tuesday, August 6 (Manila time).
The world No. 2 and acclaimed as one of the Philippines’ strongest medal hopefuls, Obiena, who owns the Asian record of 6.0 meter clearance, failed to clear 5.95 meter height in the 12-man final and lost the bronze to Emmanouil Karalis of Greece.
Like Obiena, Karalis, ranked world No. 8 in the sport, also cleared 5.90m but nipped the Filipino for the last podium spot due to fewer attempts.
PHOTO COURTESY: GMA NEWS
“It is painful. I missed a medal by one jump and it was not far on all of my attempts,” Obiena told One Sports post game.
“I apologize. I promised I’m gonna go back after Tokyo and do better. I did, but it did not change in my book. I still came up short. I am really sorry. I apologize for it,” added the 28-year-old.
Obiena’s fourth place finish is still a vast improvement from Tokyo where he finished 11th.
World No. 1 Armand “Mondo” Duplantis of Sweden defended his title and did so by posting a new Olympic and world record of 6.25m clearance in his third attempt, topping the 6.24m previous standard which he himself set.
World No. 3 Sam Kendricks of the United States, the 2016 Rio Games bronze winner, claimed a silver medal this time in Paris with a 5.95m clearance.
Philippine athletics’ hope to land a Paris Olympics medal now lies on John Cabang Tolentino, who will play in the repechage round of the 110m hurdles on Tuesday, August 6.
