The Filipino athlete took home the silver medal at the Stockholm Diamond League in a jump that guaranteed his ticket to the upcoming Olympics.
EJ Obiena is headed to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Following a successful run at the BAUHAUS Galan in Stockholm, Sweden, the pole vaulter is the first Filipino athlete to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Obiena, who is currently the world’s number 3 pole vaulter, cleared the Olympic standard of 5.82 meters on his second try at the Stockholm Diamond League, taking home the silver medal behind the world’s top pole vaulter, Armand Duplantis. He punched his ticket to the Olympics just one day after the qualifying events began.
“We continue THE WORK as we still have lots to do. Made some rookie mistakes yesterday. It just shows I am still a student of the game,” the athlete wrote on Instagram, where he shared the news.
In being the first Filipino athlete to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics, Obiena replicated his achievement for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. He was the first Filipino athlete to qualify then after clearing a 5.81-meter jump at an event in Piazza Chiari, Italy back in 2019. Prior to the Olympic qualifiers, he made history as the first Asian and the first Filipino to clear the 6-meter mark at the Bergen Jump Challenge in Norway.
