EJ Obiena postpones Manila pole vault meet, will hold meet and greet instead

EJ Obiena and his camp have decided to postpone to a later date the pole vault meet supposed to happen on September 20 at the Ayala Triangle in Makati City.

The Filipino pole vaulter shared the development on Monday, saying his team experienced 'unexpected hurdles' while organizing the tournament sanctioned by the World Athletics. Obiena added that the back injury that forced him to call off the remainder of his 2024 campaign was among those issues.

The Manila meet was anticipated by many given the world-class athletes invited to participate in the event, which Obiena had hoped would convene the finalists of the 2024 Paris Olympics featuring Mondo Duplantis, Sam Kendricks, and Emmanouil Karalis

"I am truly sorry for this. I and the organizing team worked tirelessly to make this happen; unfortunately, we encountered a few unexpected hurdles, including my fractured vertebrae," Obiena said in a post.

"The organizing team believes that we won’t be able to adequately deliver the competition to its full potential. I respect their view and expertise as we all want a world class event; thus, we are forced to postpone and plan again."

But Obiena makes sure he will still meet his supporters as instead organized a meet and greet on September 15  at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay Activity Center.

The event will include an exhibition and panel discussion with some international pole vaulters.

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA Integrated News