Obiena takes 5th place at Polish meet
THE ROAD back to Olympic glory continued to be bumpy and treacherous for pole-vault star EJ Obiena after he missed out on a podium finish in the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzow, Poland over the weekend.
The World No. 3’s best clearance was 5.82 meters, which was good enough for fifth place in the event that was expectedly won by the greatest pole-vaulter on the planet — Swedish dynamo Armand Duplantis.
Mr. Duplantis blew away Mr. Obiena and the field with a record-breaking performance, an astonishing 6.26m that eclipsed the old mark of 6.25m the former set on his way to the Paris Olympic gold medal.
American Sam Kendricks and Greek sensation Emmanouil Karalis each cleared 6m but the Paris silver winner edged the Olympic bronze medalist via count back to take the runner-up finish.
The Asian champion from Tondo did attempt 6m once after a pair of failed tries at 5.92m.
But his attempt failed, leaving him with his second non-podium finish in three events since his heartbreaking fourth-place finish in the quadrennial meet in the French capital.
He did take a bronze that he shared with several foes at a meet in Lausanne, Switzerland though. — Joey Villar
