Obiena falls to 7th with broken pole
THIS WAS one night that Paris Olympics-bound Filipino pole-vaulter EJ Obiena should try to forget.
In one of his worst performances to date, Mr. Obiena finished seventh in the 63rd Ostrava Golden Spike meet that the mighty Armand Duplantis effortlessly ruled Tuesday in the Czech Republic.
The Asian champion and world No. 2 couldn’t do anything right as he broke a pole midway in the campaign and settled for just 5.52 meters for seventh.
The Southeast Asian Games king went for 5.62m, 5.72m and even 5.82m but failed. In contrast, Armand Duplantis, the Olympic and world champion and record-holder, was unchallenged and cruised to victory with 6m flat.
Frenchman Ethan Cormont was second while Belgian Ben Broeders came third with identical 5.62m. Mr. Cormont prevailed via count back.
Mr. Obiena later posted on his social media account that he also got derailed by problems while transporting his poles from Los Angeles where he recently competed to the Czech Republic.
“Frustrating to say the least and very pissed at the whole debacle,” he said.
Obiena hopes to recover from this and resume his hunt for that coveted Olympic medal in Paris this July. — Joey Villar
