Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena missed out on a podium finish at the Meeting Liévin Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais on Friday, finishing sixth in a field stacked with many of the world’s elite pole vaulters.
Obiena, who is coming off podium finishes at the Asian Indoor Championships (gold) and the INIT Indoor Meeting (bronze), cleared 5.70m to finish sixth in the competition. Emmanouil Karalis, who beat out the Filipino for bronze in the 2024 Paris Olympics on a countback, won gold after clearing 6.00m.
Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen bagged silver after clearing 5.90m, while the US’ Zachery Bradford copped bronze, losing in the countback to fall a notch below despite clearing 5.90m as well. The US’ KC Lightfoot and Australia’s Kurtis Marschall both jumped 5.80m, with the former claiming fourth on the countback.
Why Clearing 5.70m Could Be Omen of ‘Superb’ Year for Obiena
Despite not nailing a podium finish in Liévin, EJ Obiena is still on track for a “superb” year, according to his adviser, the ever-supportive Jim Lafferty. And part of the optimism is Obiena being able to clear 5.70m early in the season—something he has done thrice in 2026 already.
“Normally, EJ opens the season at 5.50m to 5.60m, then builds,” Lafferty pointed out. “Only once did he open at 5.70m as he did this year, and that was in 2023, which was his greatest season when he rose to No. 2 in the world and nailed 6.00m twice. EJ began this season tying his best season-opening jump ever. Let’s all get behind him, send him good vibes and karma, say our prayers, and be positive.”
Obiena now turns his focus to the Orlen Copernicus Cup in Torun, which is the last World Tour Gold competition. The goal for the short term is to qualify for the World Indoor Championships at the Kujawsko-Pomorska Arena in Torun, Poland, on March 20-22.
