Budapest, Hungary, August 27, 2023: The Philippines’ Asian champion Ernest John “EJ” Obiena won the silver medal and equalled his own Asian record in men’s pole vault at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Saturday night.
The 27-year-old Tokyo Olympian cleared 6.0 metres to take the silver medal behind defending world champion and world record-holder Armand “Mondo” Duplantis of Sweden, who won with a height of 6.10.
Chris Nilsen (United States) and two-time Commonwealth champion Kurtis Marschall (Australia) shared the bronze medal with 5.95m.
Obiena, world ranked No. 3, upgraded his bronze medal from the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon to silver and put him in good heart for a podium challenge at the Paris Olympics next summer.
Duplantis started out with the opening height of 5.55m with the rest of the field, much to everyone’s surprise, but was the last man standing and took the gold medal with 6.10m.
Obiena, who was the only other man in the field to successfully clear 6.00m, equalled his own Asian record.
For the first time ever in the pole vault contest, five men successfully got over 5.90m. France’s Thibaut Collet, the surprise package of the competition, did so on his first attempt to set a lifetime best, but ultimately went no higher.
Duplantis, naturally, got over 5.90m and 5.95m with ease. Likewise, Obiena succeeded on his first try at those heights. Marschall equalled his lifetime best of 5.95m and Nilsen matched that height, putting the duo in joint third.
Obiena was Duplantis’s last challenger but eventually bowing out after one failed try at 6.05m and two at 6.10m.
Duplantis, meanwhile, was in a class of his own, soaring over those bars with ease, each time earning a great response from the crowd.
With the title secured and the runway all to himself, Duplantis took three attempts at a would-be world record of 6.23m. They were ultimately unsuccessful, but he was still delighted with his performance.
The Philippine Olympic Committee posted: “Soaring on the global stage! Congratulations EJ Obiena for bagging the silver medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships held in Budapest, Hungary. For the first time in World Championship history, five men fly over 5.90m! Congrats again, EJ!”