EJ Obiena punches World Championships ticket with 5.90-meter effort in Zurich
At A Glance
- Despite finishing fifth overall in Diamond League's Zurich leg, two-time Olympian EJ Obiena still punched his ticket to the 2027 World Athletics Championships after clearing the 5.90-meter mark in Switzerland Friday, Aug. 28.
(EJ Obiena / Facebook)
Despite finishing fifth overall in Diamond League’s Zurich leg, two-time Olympian EJ Obiena still punched his ticket to the 2027 World Athletics Championships after clearing the 5.90-meter mark in Switzerland Friday, Aug. 28.
The 30-year-old Obiena cleared 5.90 meters on his first attempt before a packed crowd on Swiss soil which was enough to earn himself a slot in the biennial meet to be hosted by Beijing, China next year.
It will be his fifth appearance in the world championships where he once bagged a silver and bronze in the 2023 Budapest and 2022 Eugene
“5.90m here in Zurich. Thank you @weltklassezurich for always hosting such a wonderful competition. [Para sa bayan],” Obiena wrote.
“PS: With this I also qualified for next year’s World Championship,” he added.
Obiena finished fifth overall in Zurich where he sailed over 5.50 and 5.65 meters in one try. He failed two of his attempts in 5.80m before clearing 5.90m in his final effort.
As expected, world No. 1 Armand Duplantis topped the leg with a 6.25-meter outing which was another meet record for the Swedish vaulter. He was followed by Greek Emmanouil Karalis (6.20m) and Norwegian Sondre Guttormsen (6.00m) for silver and bronze honors, respectively.