August 20 ------ Filipino Olympian and pole vaulter EJ Obiena is set to meet again with other Olympians such as Mondo Duplantis in the Lausanne leg of the Diamond League. In the entry list published on the tournament website, Obiena will face the likes of Paris Olympics gold medalist Duplantis of Sweden, silver medalist Sam Kendricks of USA, and bronze medalist Emmanouil Karalis of Greece.
Olympic finalists Kurtis Marschall (Australia) and Sondre Guttormsen (Netherlands) will also compete, along with top vaulters Christopher Nilsen and Jacob Wooten of USA, France's Renaud Lavillenie and Thibaut Collet, and local bet Valentin Imsand. Obiena was recently in the Philippines as he went home for a series of activities including a reception at the Malacañan Palace, a homecoming at Chiang Kai Shek College, and receiving his cash incentive at the Manila City Hall.
In a social media post on Thursday, Obiena also spoke about the country's "golden era" in sports. "I have to say what’s best of all, is the fact this is clearly the golden era of Philippines sports, and we are all witness to it! It took 97 years for Ate Hidilyn Diaz to win our first Gold Medal, and now three years later Carlos Yulo wins two! Just Wow! What a great time for our nation’s sports! Let’s all take a moment to take this all in, and enjoy!"
Obiena recently slipped to no. 3 in the world rankings after finishing fourth in the Paris Summer Games. Obiena is also involved in bringing international pole vault stars here in the country for the Philippine International Pole Vault Challenge on September 20.
Source: gmanetwork.com
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