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Articles by Sam KENDRICKS
Door closes, opens for EJ
MANILA, Philippines — Pole vaulter EJ Obiena failed to earn the required qualifying points for a ticket to the Diamond League Final in Brussels on Sept. 4-5 but while the door closed, another opened as he cleared 5.90m in Zurich last Thursday to book a ticket to the World Athletics Championships in Beijing on Sept. 11-19 next year. There’s one more meet that Obiena is hoping to qualify for and it’s the World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest on Sept.
Duplantis 'nervous but fired up' for Diamond League opener
SHANGHAI, China — Pole vault world record-holder Armand "Mondo" Duplantis admitted to nerves on the eve of the new Diamond League season on Friday as he seeks to extend his extraordinary unbeaten record. The US-born Swede opens his outdoor campaign on Saturday in a loaded field in China that includes Greece's Emmanouil Karalis, who moved to second on the world all-time list in February with a 6.17m clearance in Athens.
Duplantis kicks off Diamond League season in China
PARIS, France — Serial world record setter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis will be on hand to kick off this season's Diamond League series when he takes to the pole vault runway at the Shanghai/Keqiao meet this weekend. The US-born Swede will be joined by Kenya's middle-distance queen Faith Kipyegon, Norway's hurdles king Karsten Warholm, Botswana's Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo and Nigerian 100m hurdler Tobi Amusan in what promises to be a high-octane start to the 15-meet series.
Obiena out of podium
MANILA, Philippines — Pole vaulter EJ Obiena finished sixth of 10 with a 5.70m clearance at the Meeting Lievin Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais last Thursday (yesterday morning, Manila time) and despite failing to reach the podium, had the consolation of outjumping three top 10 contenders.
Obiena ready for Asian Indoors
MANILA, Philippines — World No. 11 pole vaulter EJ Obiena cleared 5.75m to finish fifth of nine at the Perch’Xtrem in the Palais des Sports Caen la Mer, France last Friday (yesterday morning, Manila time) as he ended a tour of three European meets before flying to Tianjin for the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships on Feb. 6-8. Obiena, 30, skipped the opening bar of 5.35m then took only one try to jump over 5.50m, 5.65m and 5.75m before failing to hurdle 5.84m thrice in Caen.
EJ shares gold in Cottbus
MANILA, Philippines — EJ Obiena is coming on strong in his bid to break back into the world top 10 pole vault rankings. He opened the indoor season with a leap of 5.65m to claim the bronze in Dusseldorf last week and improved to 5.77m for joint gold with World No. 5 Manno Vloon of the Netherlands at the Internationales Springer Meeting in Cottbus the other night (yesterday morning, Manila time).
Obiena opens season on high note, strikes gold in Germany
MANILA, Philippines — EJ Obiena's redemption tour is in full swing. After a challenging 2025 season, Obiena has started his 2026 with two medals in as many tournaments, after tallying a gold medal on Thursday morning (Manila time), tying with Menno Vloon to rule the international Jump-Meeting Cottbus in Germany. The two pole vaulters cleared 5.77 meters, but could not clear all three attempts at 5.84 meters, including a final jump-off.
Podium landing for EJ
MANILA, Philippines — It wasn’t the best finish that pole vaulter EJ Obiena had in mind but clearing 5.65m to claim the bronze at the ISTAF Indoor Championships, a World Athletics Tour Silver, in Dusseldorf, Germany, last Saturday was still a creditable first step in his bid to reclaim a top 10 ranking. Obiena went up against seven vaulters, including three top 10 contenders, and failed to clear 5.70m thrice to settle for third place.
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