EJ Obiena to hold 'world-class' pole vault meet in PH on September 20; Paris finalists tipped to join

EJ Obiena is looking to bring a world-class pole vault tournament to the Philippines next month with the finalists of the 2024 Paris Olympics expected to see action in front of the Pinoy crowd.

Entitled Philippine International Pole Vault Challenge, the meet has already been registered with the World Athletics and will be held on September 20 at the Ayala Triangle Gardens in Makati.

He added that the tournament will be using outdoor surfaces that will comply with the global standards.

"I’m trying to host a competition to bring these guys that I competed against here today. It’s already in the calendar, it’s on September 20," Obiena said on Tuesday following the pole vault finals where he settled for a fourth place finish.

"It’s an official competition. It’s sanctioned. The surface is going to be the same with what we used here in Paris."

Some of those who are likely to see action are Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, who won the bronze in Paris, as well as Huang Bokai of China, who also trains under Obiena's coach Vitaly Petrov. Obiena is also looking to invite the likes of Oleg Zernikel of Germany and world record holder and gold medalist Mondo Duplantis.

"I hope Oleg will come, I think Emmanouil will come, Bokai will come. So we’ll see. I will try to get the Olympic finalists and have a really good competition in the Philippines."

"I think the country deserves that."

In order to make sure everything is up to the World Athletics standard, Obiena and his camp got the help of a consultant from Europe, whom Obiena said is more knowledgeable about organizing such events.

"We have a European consultant to make sure everything is up to standard. The surface that we’ll be using is the same surface here in Paris and Tokyo. Hopefully, you guys will have a world-class competition in the Philippines."

—JMB, GMA Integrated News