At A Glance
- A podium finish remained out of reach for EJ Obiena after settling for seventh place at the Diamond League Monaco on Friday, July 11 (early Saturday, July 12, Philippine time).
EJ Obiena misses the podium at the Diamond League Monaco. (File Photo/EJ Obiena Facebook)
A podium finish remained out of reach for EJ Obiena after settling for seventh place at the Diamond League Monaco on Friday, July 11 (early Saturday, July 12, Philippine time).
The two-time Olympian managed to clear 5.72 meters, finishing behind eventual champion and world record-holder Mondo Duplantis, who dominated the field as expected with a new meet record of 6.05 meters.
Obiena actually shared the same mark with Dutchman Menno Vloon, but placed lower via countback.
It was Obiena's second straight seventh-place finish and fourth consecutive time that he finished outside the podium since he reigned supreme at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea last May with a winning mark of 5.77m. Since then, he placed fifth in Hengelo, Netherlands (5.66m), recorded a “No Height” at the Oslo Bislett Games Diamond League in Norway, and finished seventh in the Bauhaus-Galan Diamond League in Stockholm, Sweden with 5.70 meters.
Meanwhile, Duplantis once again proved his dominance, breaking the six-year-old meet record of 6.02 meters set by Poland’s Piotr Lisek.
Paris Olympics bronze medalist Emmanouil Karalis of Greece took silver over Australia’s Kurtis Marschall, also via countback, after both registered 5.92m.
Obiena passed the opening height of 5.47m and cleared 5.62m on his first attempt. He then needed all three tries to make 5.72m.
Attempting to beat his season-best of 5.80m, he went for 5.82m but failed to clear it.