Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena walked away with a silver medal from the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Saturday night (early Sunday in Manila).

The Tokyo Olympian cleared the 6-meter mark in his second try to secure second place, behind world record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden.

It's an improvement for Obiena, who won bronze in last year's world championships in Oregon.

• EJ Obiena qualifies to pole vault finals in worlds

Duplantis took the gold medal after clearing 6.10-m in his first try. However, the 23-year-old just missed out on resetting his own record after failing thrice to clear 6.23-m.

Obiena, who equaled his personal best and the Asian record, could not clear the 6.05-m and the 6.10-m marks. Australia's Kurtis Marschall and American Chris Nilsen shared the bronze with vaults of 5.95-m.

"I'm really happy about all these consecutive golds. I don't know where this one ranks but I'm happy to keep winning," said Duplantis.

"This was maybe the craziest atmosphere I've ever competed in so it meant a lot to be able to turn on a pole vault show for them.

"I felt a bit of pressure as defending champion but I'm glad to come through it. It feels pretty good to be on top again." -- With a report from Agence France-Presse

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