Obiena crashes out of World Athletics Championships

Filipino pole vault icon EJ Obiena suffered an early exit after finishing in 18th place in the World Athletics Championships at the National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan, on Saturday, Sept. 13.

Passing on the starting height of 5.40 meters, Obiena cleared 5.55 meters on his first try before upping the ante to 5.70 meters, but failed twice to clear the bar.

The world No. 7 then opted to increase the bar to 5.75 meters and failed to bow out early in the qualification round. 

World-best Armand Duplantis, alongside Sam Kendricks and Emmanouil Karalis, spearheaded the qualification round after soaring over 5.75 meters. Sondre Guttormsen, Kurtis Marschall, Ersu Şasma, Renaud Lavillene, and Bo Kanda Baehre will also be up front in the final round after clearing the 5.75-meter bar.

Obiena notched a silver medal in the 2023 iteration of the event after cleaning his personal best of 6.00 meters.

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Filipino ace EJ Obiena kissed his bid in the 2025 World Athletics Championships goodbye after fumbling in the men’s pole vault qualification round last night in Tokyo.https://t.co/ygePhu18vs

— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) September 14, 2025

The event marks Obiena’s second event this month, with the Olympian grabbing a bronze medal in the World Athletics Continental Tour in Beijing last week. 

His next event will be in his hometown in the Philippines’ first-ever international pole vault event, the Atletang Ayala World Pole Vault Challenge, which will be held in Makati.

Aside from Obiena, the hometown event will also be sponsored by Ayala Corp. and MVP Sports Foundation (MVPSF).

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