WORLD No. 5 Ernest John “EJ” Obiena replicated his season-best 5.81 meters to reign supreme in the Orlen Copernicus Cup in Torun, Poland on Tuesday.
It was the Filipino Olympian’s second victory of the year after he topped the Orlen Cup in Lodz, Poland on Feb. 12 with another 5.81m.
Mr. Obiena’s effort in Lodz earned the Southeast Asian Games gold medalist and Asian record-holder a spot to the World Indoor Championships set on March 18-20 in Belgrade, Serbia and the World Championships slated for July 15 to 24 in Eugene, Oregon.
The recent feat also made up for a disappointing performance in the Meeting Hauts-de-France in Lievin, France where he cleared only 5.61m a week ago.
On this one, Mr. Obiena cleared the gold-clinching height on his third and final attempt to edge out Ben Broeders of Belgium and Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Thiago Braz of Brazil, who settled for the silver and bronze, respectively, with identical 5.71m.
He went for 5.91m but failed on three attempts.
Mr. Obiena’s career best is a 5.93 he set in last year’s Golden Roof Challenge in Innsbruck, Austria. — Joey Villar