World-class pole vaulter EJ Obiena returns into action with three tournaments lined up starting on Tuesday, June 27, in his bid to intensify his preparations for 2024 Paris Olympics qualifications.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympian will compete in the 62nd Ostrava Golden Spike at the Mestsky Stadion in Ostrava, Czech Republic, where he will be facing some of the world’s best that include world No. 1 Armand Duplantis of Sweden, Norwegian Paul Haugen Lillefosse, Australian Kurtis Marschall and Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis. Also lined up in the event are France’s Thibaut Collet, Poland’s Piotr Fox, Norway’s Simon Guttormsen and Paul Haugen Lillefosse, and hometown bets David Bare and Tax Bart. After the Czech meet, Obiena will have a four-day respite before plunging into action anew in the Bauhaus-Galan on July 2 in Stockholm, Sweden, which is part of the prestigious Wanda Diamond League calendar. The Stockholm meet will have a stronger cast that include Duplantis, Marschall, Lillefosse, world No. 4 and 2016 Rio Olympics champion Thiago Braz of Brazil, world No. 5 Renaud Lavillenie of France, world No. 7 Sondre Guttormsen of Norway and world No. 12 Ben Broeders of Belgium. Obiena will then cap off his stint in France on July 7 for the Meeting International de Sotteville 2023. Seeking a second Olympic appearance, Obiena boasts of a new national and Asian mark of 6.00 meters he made at the Bergen Jump Challenge in Norway early this month. The 27-year-old aims for the Olympic qualification standard of 5.82m starting on July 1.
*EJ Obiena is hoping for a second Olympic appearance in Paris next year. (File Photo)
*The 2020 Tokyo Olympian will compete in the 62nd Ostrava Golden Spike at the Mestsky Stadion in Ostrava, Czech Republic, where he will be facing some of the world’s best that include world No. 1 Armand Duplantis of Sweden, Norwegian Paul Haugen Lillefosse, Australian Kurtis Marschall and Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis. Also lined up in the event are France’s Thibaut Collet, Poland’s Piotr Fox, Norway’s Simon Guttormsen and Paul Haugen Lillefosse, and hometown bets David Bare and Tax Bart. After the Czech meet, Obiena will have a four-day respite before plunging into action anew in the Bauhaus-Galan on July 2 in Stockholm, Sweden, which is part of the prestigious Wanda Diamond League calendar. The Stockholm meet will have a stronger cast that include Duplantis, Marschall, Lillefosse, world No. 4 and 2016 Rio Olympics champion Thiago Braz of Brazil, world No. 5 Renaud Lavillenie of France, world No. 7 Sondre Guttormsen of Norway and world No. 12 Ben Broeders of Belgium. Obiena will then cap off his stint in France on July 7 for the Meeting International de Sotteville 2023. Seeking a second Olympic appearance, Obiena boasts of a new national and Asian mark of 6.00 meters he made at the Bergen Jump Challenge in Norway early this month. The 27-year-old aims for the Olympic qualification standard of 5.82m starting on July 1.