Obiena caps World Indoor Championships with ninth-place finish

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

EJ Obiena wrapped up his World Indoor Championships campaign with a rare ninth-place finish on March 22, 2026, in Kujawy Pomorze, Poland.

After a gold medal run during the ISTAF Indoor tournament in Berlin, Germany, Obiena failed to sustain his momentum and suffered his worst result in the ongoing 2026 pole vaulting tournament schedule.

Obiena kicked off the competition on a high note, clearing 5.50 meters and 5.70 meters on his first attempts, but was not able to progress after getting stuck at the 5.85-meter height.

The Filipino star ran out of options at 5.85 meters, eventually consuming all three of his tries at the height to end up with a surprising ninth-place result.

Obiena shared the ninth-place finish with Christopher Nilsen of the United States, who walked the same path after failing all of his tries at 5.85 meters.

Bagging the gold medal was World No. 1 Armand Duplantis with a new championship record of 6.25 meters, followed by Emmanouil Karalis of Greece with 6.05 meters and Australia’s Kurtis Marschall with 6.00 meters.

Duplantis showed he is still on another level after scoring perfect jumps from 5.50 meters to 6.25 meters to extend his title streak to four, while Karalis had all the chances to keep up with him but faltered when the Swedish stalwart raised the bar to 6.25 meters.

Despite the slip in the tournament outcome, Obiena is still having one of his best starts in the international tournament calendar, with five medals, including three golds and two bronzes, since kicking off 2026 with a bronze in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Obiena aims to bounce back and redeem himself this coming April, when he returns to compete in the World Athletics Continental Tour across Asia and Europe.