Ernest John “EJ” Obiena showed why he is among the Top 10 pole vaulters in the world.
The 25-year-old Obiena cleared 5.7 meters on his first attempt to earn the gold medal in the men’s action of the Göteborg Friidrott Grand Prix 2021, the first in the Folksam Grand Prix series in Sweden.
He could have done better as Obiena tried the height of 5.8 meters.
But he missed all his three attempts after Obiena was not able to make the proper adjustments with his approach.
“I could have done better. I could have gone to 5.8 meters. Kailangan ko pang mag-adjust,” said Obiena to his supporters in the Philippines after his event.
Obiena was encouraged to make an attempt at 5.8 meters after his training partner Thiago Braz of Brazil made an effort to go for 5.75 meters.
Unfortunately, Braz, who is the 2016 Rio de Janeiro gold medallist, also fell short on his bid.
Braz instead settled for the silver medal with his 5.65 meter effort.
Paul Haugen Lillefosse of Norway took the bronze medal with hid 5.6-meter performance.
It was the first outdoor competition for Obiena, who is set to see action in The Netherlands and in Germany in the coming days.
Obiena has moved up in the rankings over the last six months and is now considered as among the Top 10 pole vaulters seeing action in the Tokyo Olympics.
According to current Olympic rankings listed by World Athletics, Obiena is tied with Timur Morgunov of Russia and Torben Blech of Germany at 10th position.
Obiena’s ranking got a big boost with his best showing this year back in February.
That was when Obiena broke the national record for the second time in Torun, where he cleared a height of 5.86 meters to earn the silver medal during the Orlen Cup 2021 Indoor Athletics meeting.
Obiena’s performance was regarded as the best by an Asian athlete since 2005 when action ended at the Atlas Arena in Åódź, Poland.
Before that, he settled for the bronze medal in another showdown with world champion Sam Kendricks of the United States and seasoned veteran Piotr Lisek of Poland in the men’s pole vault event of the Copernicus Cup 2021 indoor athletics meet in Torun, Poland.
Obiena cleared the same height of 5.80 meters with Kendricks and Lisek, making a clean attempt of his third try for third place.
So far, Armand Duplantis of Francis, whose best effort was at 6.18 meters last year, is ranked no. 1, with Kendricks following in second, and Renaud Lavillenie of France in third.
Lisek is fourth, with American KC Lightfoot in fifth.