Obiena leaps to Athletics Worlds final

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena kept his bid to become the first Philippine medalist in the World Athletics alive after qualifying for the final at the 2022 World Athletics Championships held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on Friday (Saturday morning in Manila).

Obiena cleared 5.75m in two tries to finish in the Top 12 of two groups of pole vaulters and clinch his place in the final.

Competitors needed to clear 5.80m or be in the Top 12 to move on to the next round.

All finalists moving on cleared 5.75m as they were only 12 competitors left after 5.75m — including world record holder Armand Duplantis in Group A.

Obiena, along with Germany's Oleg Zernikel, were in Group B.

An even six pole vaulters from both groups are moving on to the final.

The Asian record holder, though, had some trouble early as he needed two attempts to clear 5.50m in his first attempt of the event.

He then followed it up with a one-time clearance of 5.65m to put himself in a good position to qualify for the next round.

Qualified for the final are Duplantis, Zernikel, Obiena, USA's Christopher Nilsen, Brazil's Thiago Braz, France's Renaud Lavillenie, Norway's Pal Haugen Lillefosse, Germany's Bo Kanda Lita Baehre, Belgium's Ben Broeders, Turkey's Ersu Sasma, Norway's Sondre Guttormsen, and Netherland's Menno Vloon.

The final is slated on Sunday afternoon (Monday morning, Manila time).