Paris Olympics pole vault finalists expected at EJ Obiena's Manila meet this September
EJ Obiena is set to host a pole vault event in Manila, with hopes of attracting the biggest names from the recent Paris Olympics.
After his competition last Aug. 6, the 28-year-old Filipino pole vault ace and Asia's best said that the "official" and "sanctioned" meet has been registered with the World Athletics and is set on Sept. 20 at the Ayala Triangle Gardens.
"I’m trying to host a competition to bring these guys that I competed against here today. It’s already in the calendar, it’s on September 20," Obiena said.
"It’s an official competition. It’s sanctioned. The surface is going to be the same with what we used here in Paris," he continued.
Bronze medalist Emmanouil Karalis of Greece and Huang Bokai of China are said to attend the meet. Obiena is also hoping to invite top pole vaulters like Germany's Oleg Zernikel and world record holder and gold medalist Mondo Duplantis of Sweden.
"I hope Oleg will come, I think Emmanouil will come, Bokai will come. So we’ll see. I will try to get the Olympic finalists and have a really good competition in the Philippines," he said. "I think the country deserves that."
According to the Filipino athlete, to meet World Athletics standards, they sought help from a consultant in Europe who is more experienced at organizing such events.
"We have a European consultant to make sure everything is up to standard. The surface that we’ll be using is the same surface here in Paris and Tokyo. Hopefully, you guys will have a world-class competition in the Philippines," he said.
Obiena fell short of a podium finish at the 2024 Paris Olympics, describing sports as "beautiful but also brutal."
Speaking to One Sports after Tuesday's competition, he said he was happy that he got to the finals, but was disappointed he missed his chance to advance to get a medal.
"I'm thankful that I got to the finals, definitely, but at the same time, I was disappointed. It wasn't far," he said.
"But you know, it's Olympics. It's not going to wait for everybody. I'm just here doing everything that I can," Obiena continued.
Duplantis grabbed the gold and also cleared 6.25m, breaking his own record. America's Sam Kendricks, the world's no. 3, finished with silver, while Greece's Emmanouil Karalis, the world's no. 8, got bronze.