The World’s Number 3 pole vaulter and Thomasian Engineering student Ernest John Obiena made his Fellow Filipinos proud as he improved upon his performance in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by leaping from 11th place to 4th place in the 2024 Paris Olympics on August 6, 2024.
Prior to the Summer Games in Paris, the 28-year-old Obiena held the World Number 2 spot for 46 weeks, beginning in July 2023.
In a statement released on social media days after the competition, Obiena shared his enduring commitment to his training, saying that “I commit to everyone now, I am back in training, I am back in the game, and I am going to attack the rest of the season and make you proud. You are going to see more from me, and see the Philippine Flag raised and raised on a global stage. Let’s get on with it!”
Obiena’s personal best record stands at 6.00 meters, which he achieved at the Sparebanken Vest Bergen Jump Challenge in June 2023 and the World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August 2023.
His 2024 pole vault season has also had many podium finishes, including first place at the Memorial Josip Gasparac in Croatia (5.83m), ISTAF Indoor 2024 in Germany (5.93m) last February, Irena Szewinska Memorial (5.97m) and Czeslaw Cybulski Memorial (5.87m) in Poland last June, second place at the Oslo Bislett Games (5.72m) in Norway last May, and most recently as of writing time, third place at the Diamond League in Lausanne (5.82m) on August 21, 2024.
