EJ Obiena is as calm as ever as he braces himself for the final of the men’s pole vault of the 2023 World Athletics Championships at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on Sunday.
It’s quite a feat for somebody trying to better a national mark he himself posted. And now going up once more against the current best in the world: Armand Duplantis.
Obiena takes off at 1:25 a.m. (Manila time) as he aims for a better finish this time after getting the bronze medal in last year’s edition in Eugene, Oregon after hitting a then-Philippine and Asian record of 5.94m meters.
Obiena made the final cut after tallying 5.75m in the qualification round last Wednesday.
In an interview with DAILY TRIBUNE, Philippine Athletics and Track and Field Association secretary general Edward Kho said the pole vaulter from Tondo, Manila, isn’t fretting about his chances in the tournament and is just enjoying every minute of the competition.
“Basically, he’s chill. We would talk about other things that aren’t about the competition,” Kho said.
“If he’s in the middle ground of the arousal level, it would help a lot because it wouldn’t make your muscles too tense prematurely. His movements will be voluntary and it’s like the pilot is in control.”
Familiar foes will face Obiena with five-time champion Armand Duplantis of Sweden gunning for his sixth straight gold medal in the world championships.
American pole vaulters Christopher Nilsen and Zach McWhorter will also vie for a spot in the podium of the tournament as well as China’s Huang Bokai and Jie Yao.
Piotr Lisek and Robert Sobera of Poland, Germany’s Oleg Zernikel, Kurtis Marschall of Australia, Ersu Sasma of Turkey and Claudio Stecchi of Italy complete the 12-man final in the biggest athletics competition outside of the Olympics.
Kho said having Obiena face the same athletes in the final also helps him get composed as he is familiar with how they play.
With the world’s third-best pole vaulter already securing a spot for the 2024 Paris Olympics last July after hitting the 5.82m qualifying standard at the Stockholm Diamond League in Sweden last July, Kho said Obiena and focus solely on improving his performance in the tournament and preparing for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China from 23 September to 8 October.
