Our national pole vaulter is also gearing up for his second Olympic participation in July.
EJ Obiena, world number 2 pole vaulter and one of the Philippines’ representative in the upcoming Paris 2024 games, made it big at the recent USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix at the Drake Statdium in the U.S.A.
This, as he won a gold medal on Sunday, May 19, after clearing 5.80 meters and besting contemporaries KC Lightfoot from the U.S.A. and Simen Guttormsen of Norway, who both cleared 5.70 meters and took home the silver and bronze, respectively.
The LA Grand Prix gold is the third for Obiena this season, as he also collected the same medal in Memorial Josip Gasparac in Croatia and ISTAF Indoor Tournament in Germany last February.
EJ is one of the 12 athletes who have secured a ticket to the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympic Games, which will happen in Paris, France from July 26 to August 11, 2024.
He first participated in the Olympiad during its previous edition, the Tokyo 2020 games in Japan, which was held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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