MANILA, Philippines – A seesaw season continued for Filipino pole vault star EJ Obiena as he missed the podium in the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzow, Poland, on Sunday, August 25.
Obiena cleared 5.82 meters and placed fifth in the Silesia leg of the Diamond League expectedly ruled by Sweden’s Armand Duplantis, who once again shattered his own world record.
The result came just four days after the world No. 3 Obiena clinched joint third in the Lausanne Diamond League in Switzerland – his first meet since his fourth-place finish in the Paris Olympics.
Obiena breezed through the first four heights as he hurdled 5.82m in a single try before he committed back-to-back fouls at 5.92m.
He opted to skip to 6.00m, but his final attempt also proved unsuccessful as the Asian record holder bowed out of medal contention.
Duplantis, meanwhile, ruled anew with hardly any surprise following another scintillating performance that saw him reset his own world record with a 6.26m vault.
The Swedish ace, who has yet to lose in 13 meets this year, smashed his previous mark of 6.25m he set when he defended his Olympic throne in Paris.
Sam Kendricks of the USA finished behind Duplantis just like the Olympics after a 6.00m clearance, edging Emmanouil Karalis of Greece for the silver via countback.
Karalis established a national record as he joined the exclusive six-meter club, but he settled for bronze as he needed one more attempt to surpass 6.00m than Kendricks.
The USA’s KC Lightfoot ranked fourth with 5.92m.
Other Olympians made up the 11-man field, with the USA’s Chris Nilsen placing sixth followed by Australia’s Kurtis Marschall, France’s Thibaut Collet, and Poland’s Piotr Lisek. – Rappler.com