Off with Filipino star Ernest John Obiena will face off with 11 other finalists, including world record holder Armand Duplantis and world no. 2 Christopher Nilsen in the men’s pole vault championship round of the World Athletics Championships on Saturday at the National Stadium in Budapest, Hungary.
Obiena qualified after clearing 5.55 meters in his first attempt before making 5.75 meters in his second bid.
Also joining Obiena, Duplantis and Nilsen in the evening final are Kurtis Marschall of Australia, France’s Thibaut Collet, Turkiye’s Ersu Sasma, Belgium’s Ben Broeders and Italy’s Claudio Stecchi, who all competed in Group A.
In Group B, the qualifiers are China’s Jie Yao and Bokai Huang, America’s Zach Mcwhorter, Poland’s Piotr Lisek and Robert Sobera.
“Laban Pilipinas!” said Obiena after his qualification.
When he made the finals last year in Eugene, Oregon, Obiena settled for the bronze medal.
The Italy-based Obiena was the first Filipino to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics when he leaped 5.82 meters during the Diamond League-Bauhaus Galan in Sweden on July 3.
