Photo: Bildbyrån, Bernat Armangue/AP/TT
Armand Duplantis was superior in the Olympic final this summer.
Fourth place went to Filipino Ernest John “EJ” Obiena, who now pays tribute to his superior – but in a rather different way.
– He is a unicorn with more than one horn. He is unique, he tells the site Philstar.com.
Olympic gold, Olympic record and a new world record. Yes, the pole vault final in the Paris Olympics was completely “Mondo’s” show. Swedish-American Armand Duplantis24, jumped 6.25 meters and won his second straight Olympic gold. Just 20 days later he bettered his own world record again when he cleared 6.26 meters at the Diamond League competition in Silesia.
Tough time to be a pole vaulter
Duplantis is so superior now that the other pole vaulters in the world elite already know that they will be beaten as soon as they enter the athletics stadium. Ernest John “EJ” Obienathe Philippines, came fourth in the Olympics. He realizes that it is an incredibly tough time to live as a pole vaulter now that Armand Duplantis is excelling as much as he is doing.
– It’s both a good and a bad time to be a pole vaulter, but I really love him. I think pole vaulting is blessed with a character like him, he told the domestic site Philstar.com.
Obiena is himself ranked third in the world, after Duplantis and the American Sam Kendricks. As I said, he ended up just outside the podium at the Olympics in Paris.
– I am very happy that pole vaulting as a discipline maintains such a high level with good people at the top, and I am very, very proud to be a part of it, he says.
Strange praise for “Mondo”
It cannot be missed that Ernest John Obiena is a big admirer of our Swedish megastar – just like everyone else is. He even goes so far as to describe Duplantis as inhuman, comparing him to a fairy tale character. But it is a somewhat unclear comparison. It is not entirely clear what he means by this.
– He is a unicorn with more than one horn. He is unique, says Obiena.
READ MORE: Armand Duplantis roars after the great tragedy – says straight out what everyone is thinking: “It’s simply crap”
We have to assume that he himself is satisfied with that simile and so we hope that it was meant as a really big compliment to “Mondo”.
What do you have to say about Duplanti’s successful season? What is there even left for him to achieve? Please write a comment.
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