EJ Obiena finishes 10th in Brussels meet, but still enters Diamond League finals

EJ Obiena struggled in the sixth and final Wanda Diamond League qualifications meet, finishing 10th among 12 participants in the Allianz Memorial Van Damme in Brussels, Belgium on Saturday morning (Manila time).

The 2020 Tokyo Olympian was first successful in both the 5.35 and 5.50 meter marks before it took him three attempts to clear the bar at 5.65.

Obiena, 25, was unable to register the 5.75m to officially bow out of a podium finish contention.

Tokyo gold medalist Armand Duplantis was in his usual form to cop the top honors after clearing the 6.05m while Americans Christopher Nilsen and KC Lightfoot settled for silver and bronze, respectively.

Despite this exit, though, Obiena was still able to make it through to the final round of the Diamond League due to the points he earned after the six qualifiers that kicked off in May 2021.

Obiena, now the world no. 5, will be among the six finalists after finishing second and breaking his national record in Paris recently, a fourth-place finish in Stockholm last July, and a fifth-place output in Lausanne last month.

He's currently ranked fourth in the Diamond League with 16 points while Duplantis is on top with 44.

Sam Kendricks is at second with 34 followed by Nilsen with 24. Lightfoot trails Obiena at fifth spot with 16 markers as well while Renaud Lavillenie completes the cast with his 12 points.

The final meet is set to take place on September 8 and 9 at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich, Switzerland.

—JMB, GMA News