Now that he’s jumping consistently at 5.80 meters, Ernest John Obiena next needs to pierce the 5.90-meter barrier to pose a serious threat to the top medal contenders in the men’s pole vault event of the Tokyo Olympic Games opening on July 31 at Japan Olympic Stadium.

“Ang labanan dapat 5.90 meters and up. Most likely nandoong height ang labanan sa Tokyo (The battle will be at 5.90 meters and up. This is the height where the fight will be in Tokyo),” Obiena’s father and national pole-vault coach Emerson said after his son capped his pre-Olympic competitions last Sunday in the Bahaus Galan meet at Stockholm Olympic Stadium.

Competing in his fourth meet in a week, the country’s first Olympic qualifier finished in fourth place with a jump of 5.82 meters on his first attempt in the event ruled by top pick and hometown bet Mondo Duplantis, who set a new meet record of 6.02 meters in front of his adoring Swedish fans.

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Performing in humid conditions, Duplantis, who holds the world record of 6.18 meters, tried to reset his own record but failed at the height of 6.19 meters.

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The coach said that his son told him that he had nearly cleared 5.92 meters on his third attempt at Stockholm, but grazed the bar with his feet going down.

“EJ was already standing on the landing mat when the bar fell. But I saw a clip showing his body soaring clearly over the bar at that height,” he said.

“Buti hindi siya nag-bail out kungdi wala siyang feedback kay coach Vitaly (Petrov, the World Athletics training camp head coach).”

(It’s a good thing that he did not bail out attempted 5.92 meters or else that there would have been no feedback for coach Vitaly if he had not)

“This is what I keep telling my son that he is already there (at 5.90 meters) and all that need to do is to realize it,” the elder Obiena recalled in reminding his son after his recent outing.

American world champion Sam Kendricks placed second with a jump of 5.92 meters on his first try while veteran Frenchman Renauld Lavillenie was third at the same height but was relegated to third place on the countback.

Obiena can be consoled by the fact that he beat two Olympic-bound entries: Poland’s Piotr Lisek, who needed two tries at 5.82 meters and placed fifth while American Chris Nilsen, the US Olympic trials topnotcher, was sixth in clearing 5.72 meters.

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Along with reigning Brazilian Olympic champion Thiago Braz, Duplantis, Kendricks, Lavillenie, Lisek and Nilsen figure to be the Filipino’s major rivals for the gold in Tokyo.

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Obiena may have gained a psychological edge over Braz, his six-year training partner at the World Athletics elite training camp in Formia, Italy, after beating the Brazilian at the Stavhoppsgala in the neighboring town of Taby last Friday.

With the winner of the men’s pole vault advancing to the Bauhaus Galan, a leg of the blue-ribbon Wanda Diamond League athletic series, the Pinoy athlete nipped the Brazilian with a jump of 5.80 meters on his first try to the latter’s two.

The Stockholm meet capped a grueling week for Obiena, who shared top honors with Braz on June 27 when they jumped 5.80 meters at the True Athletics event on June 27 Leverkusen, Germany.

Two days later, Obiena set a new national record of 5.87 meters with a runner-up finish in the Irena Szwewinska Memorial Cup in Bydgosszcz, Poland, before hopping over to Sweden in seeing action in two more meets within a span of three days.

“This was a good experience for EJ and I am glad that he held up, which is a testament to his fine physical conditioning,” the elder Obiena said.

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He pointed out except for his jump of 5.70 meters at the start of his outdoor campaign in topping the Gothenburg Grand Prix last June 3 “all the rest of his jumps were 5.80 meters or better. This simply tells me that he has more to give and can jump even higher.”

Hoping to aid Obiena in his Olympic medal quest was the arrival of his new pole in Formia, the coach disclosed.

“I know that arrived there last July 2 so now EJ (Obiena’s nickname) now has a complete set that will help him in his transition as the bar goes higher. He still has enough time to get used to his new pole,” he said.

He added that the athlete would head directly to Tokyo on July 22 from Italy while he was also set to be quarantined next week and would leave for the Japanese capital a day later since he will be a part of the pole vaulter’s support staff.

Petrov, who used to coach former world and Olympic champion Sergey Bubka, would be focused on Braz since he is also being paid separately by paid by Brazilian sports authorities to boost their athlete’s title-retention bid, according to the elder Obiena.