MANILA, Philippines – EJ Obiena rediscovered his winning form and ruled the ORLEN Copernicus Cup in Torun, Poland, as he delivered his best performance of the season on Sunday, February 16 (Monday, February 17, Philippine time).
The Filipino pole vaulter got back on track after placing seventh in the ISTAF Indoor Dusseldorf in Germany and ninth in the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais Tropee in France by clearing 5.80 meters to capture the gold.
It was the second gold and third podium finish of the season for Obiena, who topped the Meeting Metz Moselle Athlelor in France and placed second in the International Springer-Meeting Cottbus in Germany.
After hurdling 5.50m and 5.70m both in a single try, Obiena surpassed 5.80m in three attempts to beat out Poland’s Piotr Lisek and Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen for the gold.
His latest win marked the third time Obiena reigned in the Copernicus Cup after triumphs in 2022 and 2023.
Obiena, though, said he is far from satisfied as he failed to hit 5.85m, which is the qualifying mark for the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, in March.
The 29-year-old used all of his three attempts at 5.85m to no avail.
“I needed to jump 5.85 to qualify for the World Indoor Championships,” Obiena told the Copernicus Cup website. “I am not sure if I get any more chances before the end of the qualifying period.”
Ranked fourth in the world, Obiena can still make the cut until March 9.
The qualification period for the World Indoor Championships began on September 1, but Obiena already cut his 2024 season short by then due to a spine injury and missed four remaining meets lined up for him the past year.
Home bet Lisek snagged silver via countback as he and Guttormsen both recorded 5.70m.
A total of 11 pole vaulters competed, including Olympians Menno Vloon of the Netherlands, Huang Bokai of China, Ben Broeders of Belgium, and Claudio Stecchi of Italy. – Rappler.com