For his insufficient indoor exposure, Ernest John Obiena had to pay a hefty price.
Ranged against an elite field bannered by world record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden and Olympic silver medalist Chris Nielsen of the United States, Obiena fell flat, settling for a dismal ninth-place finish in the men’s pole vault event of the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships at the Commonwealth Arena last Monday (Manila time).
The 28-year-old Filipino vaulting sensation was able to clear 5.65 meters, way below the 6.05m set by gold medalist Armand Duplantis.
Former Olympic bronze medalist Sam Kendricks of the US settled for the silver medal with 5.90m meters while Emmanouil Karalis of Greece took the bronze with 5.85m in this prestigious event that is considered as a good warmup for the Paris Olympics.
Nilsen came in at fourth place over Kurtis Marschall of Australia via countback with a similar 5.75m while Thibaut Collet of France and Ben Broeders of Belgium shared the sixth spot after with 5.65m.
After opening the year with two gold medals in Croatia and Germany, a different Obiena showed up, no thanks to his lack of exposure in the past indoor tournaments.
Menno Vloon, an unheralded Dutch who is not considered as among the heavyweights of the sport, posted a mark that is similar to Obiena at 5.65m. He, however, took the eighth place via countback after the Filipino failed in two attempts at 5.80m and 5.90m.
“Took my chances but did not work out,” said Obiena, whose personal-best in the indoors is 5.93m that he set in Germany last month, on social media after the competition.
“Clearing one bar in the whole competition and coming in ninth place. The reality of the sport sometimes. First world indoor championships are in the books as the 2024 indoor season comes to a conclusion.”
“Thank you everyone who came, watched and screamed their hearts out. I owe you one.”
But prior to the event, Obiena already had an idea of the tough road ahead.
In a radio interview, the Filipino superstar admitted that he had limited exposure in indoor tournaments so that his preparation for the Summer Games will not be hampered.
“We didn’t fully unload. We knew that there was going to be a World Athletics Indoor Championships but I needed to choose between the two,” Obiena said over the weekend.
“I would not say that I am fully preparing for this. I’m preparing for Paris. This is almost just a build-up.”
With Obiena falling flat, the three-man national squad went home emptyhanded in the biggest and most prestigious indoor event in the world.
Filipino-American Lauren Hoffman failed to get into the semifinal of the women’s 400m run after clocking in at 54.66 seconds to finish 21st out of 24 competitors.
Spain-based Filipino John Cabang, for his part, was able to make it to the semifinal after clocking 7.72 seconds in the men’s 60m hurdles. He, however, fell short of making it to the medal round as his time of 7.68 seconds did not meet the cut.
