'We are so back': EJ Obiena reclaims spot in Top 10 of World Athletics' men's pole vault rankings
EJ Obiena climbed one spot to reclaim his position in the top 10 of World Athletics' men's pole vault on Friday, Oct. 9.
"Crawled my way back to the Top 10 in the world," Obiena wrote on Instagram, adding a planet emoji.
Quoting German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, Obiena wrote, "I know of no better life purpose than to perish in attempting the great and the impossible."
"The fact that something seems impossible shouldn't be a reason to not pursue it. That's exactly what makes it worth pursuing," Obiena went on. "The only true failure is shrinking away from life's challenges."
"We are so back, baby!" he added.
Obiena shares the 10th spot with France's Thibaut Collet and American KC Lightfoot, all of whose best cleared height is 5.91. Still ranked first is Swedish Armand Duplantis, whose best height cleared is 6.31.
The Filipino was previously at no. 3 before he climbed to no. 2 in July 20, 2023, gaining 1,432 points and ousting America's Chris Nilsen, who then had 1,428 points.
Obiena's 2026 season, which he began as world no. 14, has been rewarding. On Aug. 1 (Philippine time), he won gold after clearing 5.76 meters on his first attempt at the first International Pole Vault Meeting in Halberstadt, Germany.
The gold was the 30-year-old's sixth of the year. He also topped the Internationales Springer-Meeting Cottbus in Germany last January, the Asian Indoor Championships in Tianjin, China in February, the ISTAF Indoor in Berlin in March, the Czeslaw Cybulski Memorial in Poland in June, and the Raiffeisen Austrian Open in July.
Then on Sept. 29, representing the Philippines at the recently concluded 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, Obiena defended his gold and set a new Asiad record at 5.91 meters.
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