MANILA, Philippines — Filipino pole-vault star EJ Obiena missed out on a podium finish in the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzow, Poland over the weekend.
The world No. 3’s best clearance was 5.82 meters, which was good for fifth place in the event won by the greatest pole-vaulter in the planet – Swedish dynamo Armand Duplantis.
Duplantis blew away the field with a record-breaking 6.26m that eclipsed the old mark of 6.25m the former set on his way to the Paris Olympic gold medal.
American Sam Kendricks and Greek sensation Emmanouil Karalis each cleared 6m but the Paris silver winner edged the Olympic bronze medalist via count back to take the runner-up honors.
The Asian champion from Tondo, Manila went for 6m once after a pair of failed attempts at 5.92m.
But he failed.