Published July 23, 2021, 8:00 AM
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EJ OBIENA (athletics) – Obiena, 25, became the first Filipino athlete to qualify to the Tokyo Olympics after hitting the Olympic pole vault standard of 5.81 meters in a Pole Vault meet in Chiara, Italy in 2019. Ranked No. 10 in the world, Obiena has significantly improved his season best to 5.87m at a Polish event early July, which also resets the national outdoor record. He finished fourth at the Bauhaus-Galan Wanda Diamond League Meeting in Stockholm, Sweden last July 4 – a tournament that served as a preview of the Olympics. He has been based in Formia, Italy for the past years, training under Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov.