Obiena ties season best to rule Orlen Copernicus Cup

MANILA, Philippines, February 23 ------ EJ Obiena atoned for his 10th-place finish in France last week with another first-place finish in Poland on Tuesday (early Wednesday, Manila time). The Filipino pole vaulter tied his season best of 5.81m, this time at the ORLEN Copernicus Cup in Torun to claim first place among 10 competitors.

He was the only pole vaulter to clear 5.81m with three others failing to clear the height in three attempts. Obiena, however, also needed all three attempts to register another season best. The 26-year-old attempted to reset his personal best, as well as the Asian record, with attempts at 5.91m but failed to clear the height. Obiena's Indoor pole vault record stands at 5.86m, which the athlete cleared last year at the 2021 edition of the Orlen Cup also in Poland.

Coming in second to Obiena is Belgium's Ben Broeders while 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Thiago Braz was third. Both of them cleared 5.71m but Broeders needed only one attempt to edge Braz for second place.

Obiena thus finished his first few competitions with mixed results. Despite getting two first-place finishes, Obiena also tallied an eighth-place and 10th-place finish in some of his meets this month. His first competition of the year, the ISTAF Indoor meet in Berlin, saw Obiena take a fourth-place finish.

Source: philstar.com