So far, so good for EJ Obiena

PARIS — For the second straight Olympics, EJ Obiena vies in the pole vault final, promising one thing.

“I’m just going to do my thing, make the right things,” said Obiena ahead of the colossal aerial showdown in athletics events at the Stade de France at 7 p.m. Monday here.

The nation is with Obiena in his hopes to etch his name in history.

He’s bidding to be the second Filipino to win an Olympic medal in athletics after Simeon Toribio snatched bronze in high jump back in the 1932 Los Angeles Games.

Obiena, the world No. 2, is up against familiar opponents, with supernova titleholder Armand “Mondo” Duplantis of Sweden leading the 12-man cast.

Based on the starting vault distance called by the players in the qualifying round, Duplantis, Obiena and Greek Emmanouil Karalis are the strongest bets.

It could well be a tough battle, with Team Philippines hopeful Obiena will be up to it.

“No injuries issue. Things are beginning to fall in the right places. He was able to make quick adjustments on the field. He is ready to do battle,” said Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president Terry Capistrano.

In surviving a scare right in his opening frame Saturday, Obiena has since relaxed, a bit loose but with his mind focused on the task at hand.

And he’s confident he’s to do okay with his legendary coach Vitaly Petrov as his guiding light.

“I trust my coach with my life. We’ll see what he plans,” said Obiena, helped by Petrov in a gambit move to survive trouble in the qualifying.

It’s a brand-new game in a field that includes Sondre Guttormsen of Norway, Turkey’s Ersu Sasma, Germany’s Oleg Zernikel, the Netherlands’ Memmo Vloon, American Sam Kendricks, China’s Huang Bokai, another German Bo Kanda Baehre, Latvia’s Valters Kreiss and Australian Kurtis Marschall.

No doubt, Duplantis, who has been in a streak of record-breaking feats with a best of 6.24m, is the outstanding favorite.

Obiena, meanwhile, has a season best of 5.97m, Karalis has 5.93, Sasma 5.82, Zernikel 5.82, Vloon 5.84, Kendricks 5.95, Marschall 5.87.

These guys are those in the list of Top 20 pole vaulters with Top 10 performances in 2024. And they are the ones likely to slug it out in the fight for podium finishes.

It could go down to a moment of one miss and an Olympic dream dies. A leap of faith could spell ultimate glory in the Games.