Philippines at the Olympics: EJ Obiena finishes fourth in the men's pole vault

EJ Obiena barely missed out on a podium finish in the final round of the men's pole vault in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

After breezing through the height from 5.50 to 5.90 meters, Obiena struggled to fully clear the height of 5.95 meters. One good attempt from the 28-year old Filipino would have put pressure on Greece's Emmanouli Karalis to clear the 6.0 meter in the ensuing round.

Still, Obiena's fourth-place finish was seven spots higher than his final placing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Armand Duplantis of Sweden defended his title and set an Olympic record of 6.10m. He then went on to break his own world record by clearing 6.25m. Sam Kendricks of the United States took home silver while Greece's Emmanouil Karalis won bronze.

Earlier, Laura Hoffman bid farewell to her Olympic stint after she placed eighth in the repechage round of the women's 400 meters hurdles with a time of 58.28 seconds.

Meanwhile, Aira Villegas will aim to make the finals of boxing's women's 50 kg. She goes up against Buse Naz Cakiroglu of Turkey in the semifinals slated tomorrow at 4:18 AM PHT.