By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
EJ Obiena, Asia’s undisputed pole vault king, failed to sustain his flying start and settled for a share of 9th place at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Poland on Sunday, March 22 (Philippine time).
The two-time Olympian cleared the 5.70-meter barrier right on his first try but fell short in his bid at 5.85m to his disappointment.
He ended up tied with 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Chris Nilsen in the 12-player field.
As expected, Olympic and world champion Mondo Duplantis of Sweden reigned supreme with a new championship record of 6.25 meters.
Emmanouil Karalis of Greece and Kurtis Marschall of Australia finished second and third with 6.05m and 6.00m efforts, respectively.
Obiena also needed just one try in hurdling 5.50m but something went awry along the way and failed to match his season-best jump of 5.78m, which he achieved after winning the gold medal at the ISTAF Indoor in Berlin, Germany.
He also reigned at International Springer-Meeting Cottbus in Germany with a 5.77m effort. Last month, he topped Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Tianjin, China after soaring to 5.70m.
Meanwhile, Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen finished fourth with 5.95m followed by United States’ Zachery Bradford (5.95m), France’s Baptiste Thiery (5.85m), Netherlands’ Menno Vloon (5.85m), and France’s Thibaut Collet (5.85m).
Norway’s Simen Guttormsen finished 11th with 5.70m while Czechia’s David Holy came in last with 5.50m.
