Despite various issues thrown to him, Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena proved his athleticism after ruling the 2022 Orlen Copernicus Cup on Tuesday (Wednesday in the Philippines) at the Arena Sports Hall in Torun, Poland.
After Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association announced that he was not part of the pool so far for the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games this May, Obiena still keeps on making the country proud.
The Tokyo Olympian and Asian record holder was left off the SEA Games master list submitted by Patafa president Philip Ella Juico to the Philippine Sports Commission, an offshoot of the rift between the star athlete and his national federation.
The 26-year-old Obiena notched his second championship this year by hurdling 5.81 meters. Currently, he’s No. 5 in the ranking of pole vaulters in the world.
To recall, the former University of Santo Tomas’ star made impressive jumps, equaling his season best which he set when he took the title in the Orlen Cup just a few days ago in Lodz.
As this one-day tournament is part of the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold events, he also barged into the Tour’s leaderboard with 10 points.
Obiena had a hard time reaching his game-winning leap in the competition as he needed three attempts before clearing the 5.81 meters.
But with his determined spirit, the 6-foot-2 Obiena topped the competition and outplayed Ben Broeders, Thiago Braz, and Menno Vloon who failed to clear the 5.81 meters.
Obiena is set to compete in the World Athletics Indoor Championships next month in Belgrade, Serbia. He just needed one heave each past either 5.41 or 5.71.
Broeders finished runner up to Obiena with 5.71 meters despite having the early lead in the competition. Rio Olympics champion Braz also ended with 5.71, but took third place after count-back.IMT Sports
