DESPITE BUILDING momentum in his first two tilts this year, Thomasian pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena landed seventh in the ISTAF Indoor meet in Düsseldorf, Germany on Sunday, Feb. 9 (Manila time).
The two-time Olympian only managed to clear 5.55 meters in the eight-man field, way off from his gold-clinching Asian indoor record at 5.93m last campaign.
“Not how I wanted it to go,” Obiena said in a social media post. “Taking the positives and the lessons to the next one.”
German ace Torben Blech ruled the contest after surpassing 5.80m, while the world’s second-best Sam Kendricks of USA cleared 5.70m to claim silver. Turkey’s Ersu Sasma settled for bronze after two tries to get over 5.70m.
Obiena entered the tournament coming off a strong showing in the Meeting Metz Moselle Athletor in France, where he soared past 5.70m on his first attempt to capture gold.
Dutch vaulter Menno Vloon also cleared 5.70m but had to settle for silver after requiring three attempts to clear 5.60m. Meanwhile, Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Christopher Nilsen bagged bronze with a 5.60m clearance.
Coming back from a spine injury, the world’s no. 4 pole vaulter Obiena began the year with a silver-medal finish in the International Jump Meeting Cottbus in Germany. F
