FILIPINO pole vaulter EJ Obiena opened his indoor season campaign on a bright note after landing the silver medal in the International Jump Meeting Cottbus at the Lausitz-Arena in Germany Wednesday, Jan. 25 (early Thursday in Manila).
The 2020 Tokyo Olympian cleared 5.77 meters on his first try to finish behind eventual champion Sam Kendricks of the United States, who posted 5.82m.
The world No. 3 Obiena also attempted the 5.82m height, but failed.
Obiena’s feat was far from his indoor personal best of 5.91m, but expect the Asian record holder to further improve his performance as he gears up for several high-ranking tournaments including the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships on Feb. 10 to 12 in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan, according to Manila Bulletin website.
Meanwhile, Belgium’s Ben Broeders copped the bronze via countback after he and hometown bet Gillian Ladwig registered identical 5.72m.
Other finishers include American Matt Ludwig, Dutch Rutger Koppelaar and Polish Piotr Lisek, who posted similar 5.60m for joint fifth; China’s Huang Bokai with 5.50m; Germany’s Bo Kanda Lita Baehre with 5.40m and Ukraine’s Oleksandr Onufriyev with 5.30m.
