(UPDATE) FILIPINO pole vault ace Ernest John “EJ” Obiena ruled the Atletang Ayala World Pole Vault Challenge at the Ayala Triangle in Makati on Sunday afternoon.
Obiena posted a 5.80-meter clearance, beating French Thibaut Collet via countback in the first standalone and World Athletics-sanctioned pole vaulting event in the Philippines.
World no. 7 Obiena aced 5.80m in his second attempt, while no. 12 Collet cleared it in his third and final try, paving the way for a winning end to Obiena’s season.
World no. 15 Polish Piotr Lisek claimed the bronze medal with a 5.70 m clearance.
“I’m so happy for a bit of a comeback win and a really good way to end the season,” said Obiena. He missed the World Championships final in Tokyo last week with just a 5.55 m jump.
Obiena talked about overcoming the pressure that pushed him to make his best jump of the season.
“Things are running in my head, the first one (first miss at 5.85), after all these, and the crowd, If I happen to… (fail) you know. But that pushed me to the edge and really gave my best performance of the year; it’s one of the jumps I’ve had this year.” Obiena’s 5.80m clearance tied his season best, which he first cleared at the Meeting de Madrid last July in Spain, where he claimed a silver medal.
Completing the 9-man field of the event were world no. 5 Ersu Sasma of Turkey, no. 6 Menno Vloon of the Netherlands, no. 14 Austin Miller of the US, no. 16 Oleg Zernikel of Germany, no. 23 Matt Ludwig, and no. 13 Ben Broeders of Belgium.
Broeders could not compete, though, as he sustained a back injury a day before the tournament.
