EJ Obiena fell out of the Tokyo Olympic medal race in the men’s pole vault finals at the Tokyo National Stadium on Tuesday.

Obiena, who is ranked sixth-best in the world, finished 11th overall after failing to clear the bar at 5.80 meters after three attempts.

The 25-year old twice missed at 5.80m and aborted his third and final attempt just to plead his case to the event committee after a technical malfunction over the display clock and the official clock located near the official's table.

"He pointed out the discrepancy in the timing device which indicates that when he started to run toward the crossbar, there were 56 [seconds] left before the deadline for vaulting from the start of his run-up. But when he glanced back at the pit area after he aborted his third attempt, the clock said 15 seconds," Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association chief Philip Ella Juico said.

"EJ couldn’t believe that it took him about 41 seconds to finish his performance. The few seconds left didn’t allow him enough time to start again if he’s granted the fourth leap as a result of a successful protest. That's how I understood it," he added.

Obiena was given another shot to complete his 5.80m jump after a successful protest, but he just narrowly missed the leap once again.

The Filipino bet confirmed on Wednesday morning that the issue involved a “gray area" regarding the timer, but he stated that the officials were “kind enough” to give him another opportunity.

Armand Duplantis of Sweden won the Olympic gold medal effortlessly, even clearing up to 6.02m without even registering a foul.

Duplantis, who holds a world record of 6.15m, tried to set a new world and Olympic record of 6.19m but failed to do so.