By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
EJ Obiena is set to compete alongside the world’s best in the Diamond League Monaco at the Stade Louis II on Friday, July 11 (early Saturday, July 12, Philippine time).
The prestigious event features a stacked field that includes world record-holder Mondo Duplantis and several of the world’s Top 15 pole vaulters. The competition also serves as a preview of the World Athletics Championships slated for September in Tokyo, Japan.
Obiena, currently ranked No. 4 in the world, will join Olympic and world-class names such as Paris Olympics silver medalist Sam Kendricks, American KC Lightfoot, world No. 2 and bronze medalist Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, Australian Kurtis Marschall, Dutchman Menno Vloon, Belgium’s Ben Broeders, and French stars Thibaut Collet and Renaud Lavillenie.
The 28-year-old Obiena last saw action at the Bauhaus-Galan Diamond League in Stockholm, Sweden, where he placed seventh after clearing only 5.70 meters.
Including the Stockholm meet, Obiena has competed only in three international events – Oslo, Norway and Hengelo, Netherlands – since defending his title at the 26th Asian Athletics Championships held in Gumi, South Korea last May.
He is entering the Monaco leg with a season-best jump of 5.80 meters, achieved during the PATAFA Philippine Pole Vault Challenge in May. However, he still holds the Asian and national record of 6.00 meters, which he set at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Hungary.
Obiena will face stiff competition, particularly from Duplantis, who recently reset his own world record to 6.28 meters, and Karalis, who boasts a season-best of 6.01 meters.
