A clutch performance from EJ Obiena saw him through to the final of the Tokyo Olympics men's pole vault during the qualification event Saturday morning at Olympic Stadium.
Needing to clear his third and final attempt at 5.75 meters to fend off elimination, the world's sixth-ranked pole vaulter completed it.
"I didn't know if I was out or in if I didn't make it (final attempt), but I knew I had it in me," Obiena said afterwards. "Not the way I want to do it, but I'll take it."
Obiena finished 10th, well within the top 12 threshold to make it to the final round which keeps his medal hopes alive.
The 25-year-old committed two fouls prior, when his foot clipped the bar in his first attempt to clear, while he did not even make it up top in his second.
"I didn't feel like me. I made it, but I didn't feel like me," he explained. "I would say I'm scruffy today."
In his first attempt, Obiena skipped the 5.30m clearance and opted to go straight to 5.50m. For his initial attempt to clear the 5.50m bar, he momentarily pulled back and ran again to clear the leap.
Medal contenders Armand Duplantis of Sweden, Renaud Lavillenie of France, and defending Olympic gold medalist Thiago Braz of Brazil also made the cut.
Rounding out the participants are Bo Kanda Lita Baehre and Oleg Zernickel of Germany, Christopher Nielsen and KC Lightfoot of the United States, and Kurtis Marschall of Australia.
Also making the top 12 are Menno Vloon of the Netherlands, Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, Piotr Lisek of Poland, Harry Coppell of Great Britain, Ersu Sasma of Turkey.
The final will be held on Tuesday, August 3, 6:20 p.m., at the same venue.
"The world record-holder is there (Duplantis), the defending Olympic champion is there (Braz)," Obiena noted. "The guys who should have made it, made it. So it's as tough as it can be."