By Bong Pedralvez

SPORTS fans at the Stade de France and those watching on TV halfway around the globe were on pins and needles when pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena missed his first two attempts at the 5.60-meter height in the Paris Olympic qualifiers last Saturday.

After skipping the bar at the 5.40-meter height, Obiena seemed out of sync on his first two attempts, grazing the bar with his feet as he was rising on his first and second jumps.

Rather than going for a third assault at 5.60 m, the lanky Pinoy bet, vying in Group A, made a key tactical move, deciding to save his next jump in an all-or-nothing try at 5.70 meters that gave him some time to settle down and much-needed breathing room.

Much to the relief of his supporters, the gamble paid off as the No. 2 ranked vaulter in the world, who owns the Asian and national records of six meters flat, easily cleared the height, letting out a tension-relieving yell not once but thrice as he stood up from the landing mat.

Obiena had no problem sailing over the bar on his first attempt at 5.75 m and wound up seventh overall among the 12 entries, led by reigning world and Olympic king Armand Duplantis, who advanced to the finals.

Obiena, the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games gold medalist, later apologized on his official Facebook account for his close call.

“Sorry po sa mga napakaba ko kanina. Ako rin po, kinabahan [nang] todo [na] ‘di ko maintindihan,” Obiena posted. “Thank you (to) everyone who (stuck) thru the emotional rollercoaster.”

Heavily favored to retain his Olympic title, Duplantis shared top honors in the qualifiers with five others – Norwegian Sondre Guttormsen, Greek Emmanouil Karalis, Turkish Ersu Sasma, German Oleg Zernikel – who all had fewer attempts in reaching the qualifying height.

Veteran Dutchman and Tokyo Olympian Menno Vloon were sixth, American Sam Kendricks, a former two-time world champion, eighth; Chinese Huang Bokai, Obiena’s training partner, ninth; German Bo Kanda Lita Baehre, 10th; and Latvian Valters Kreiss and Aussie Kurtis Marschall, tied for 11th.

The finals will be held at 7 p.m. today (1 a.m. Tuesday in Manila), with all eyes on Obiena, who has made it known that anything less than a podium finish would be a disappointment after he finished tied for 11th in the finals during his Olympic debut in Tokyo three years ago.

He is aiming to break the country’s 88-year-old track and field medal drought in the Summer Games since Miguel White bagged a bronze medal in the men’s 400-meter hurdles in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.