Obiena avoids scare, qualifies to Olympic pole vault finals

MANILA, Philippines -- EJ Obiena fought back from a sluggish start and punched his ticket to the finals of the men’s pole vault competition in the Paris Olympics Saturday afternoon (Manila time).

Obiena finished within the top 12 pole vaulters after the qualifications to secure his spot in the medal round.

After missing his mark in his first two attempts in 5.60 meters, he passed and tried to jump 5.70 meters in a risky move.

However, the World No. 2 pole vaulter shook off the cobwebs and cleared 5.70 meters with ease.

He then flew over 5.75 meters easily to solidify his spot in the final.

Joining Obiena in the final are World No. 1 Mondo Duplantis, Sondre Guttormsen, Emmanouil Karalis, Ersu Sasma, Menno Vloon, Sam Kendricks, Bo Kanda Lita Baehre, Oleg Zernikel and Bokai Huang, who all cleared 5.75 meters.

Claudio Stecchi, Kurtis Marschall and Valters Kreiss also booked tickets to the championship round despite clearing just 5.70 meters.

The final will be on August 6, 1 a.m. (Manila time).