Obiena ends Diamond League with fourth-place finish

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

EJ Obiena’s campaign in the prestigious 2021 Diamond League finals ended with a fourth-place finish after clearing the 5.83-meter mark.

The international tournament held at the Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich, Switzerland featured all the top pole vaulters in the world vying for the coveted gold medal.

After clearing the 5.83-meter mark, Obiena had the chance to reset the PH national record once again but failed to get past the 5.93-meter height.

Obiena’s impressive run helped him edge world no. 2 Christopher Nilsen and another American heavyweight KC Lightfoot who blew all their spare attempts for the 5.83-meter height.

Meanwhile, world no. 1 and Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Armand Duplantis continued his dominant display with another championship height of 6.06 meters.

With the win, Obiena took home total prize money of $4,000 (199,742 pesos) including the winnings he had in the previous elimination legs.

The 25-year-old world no. 5 is not done yet and is gunning for more international tournaments to further increase his points and make it into the world’s top three.