By Kristel Satumbaga
Pole vaulter EJ Obiena committed a mental lapse but still finished a strong third in the IAAF World Diamond League Athletics Series in Monaco on Friday (Saturday in Manila).
The 24-year-old cleared the 5.70m barrier on his second attempt to settle for the bronze in the event won by world record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden (6.00m).
Ben Broeders of Belgium also did 5.70m but he pulled it off right on his first try.
Obiena attempted to clear 5.80m but failed.
“Physically I’m there. I’m good. Mentally when it mattered (at clearing 5.80m), my mind just went full retard,” Obiena told Tempo.
“I don’t know. Kumbaga, nabobo. I’m still trying to understand what happened. I’m trying to fix it so it doesn’t happen again.”
The strong field boasts some of the world’s best, and Obiena just wanted to relish the competition atmosphere for the second time after most sporting events were sidelined due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think everyone in the circuit knows each other na. I know Mondo (Duplantis). We competed a lot of times already. It wasn’t really like, ‘Oh my god, I’m competing with Mondo. It was like, ‘I need to win this. I need to beat this guy’,” he said.
He fell short on that goal, but improved his season performance after posting 5.45m in a silver-medal feat at the 13th Triveneto Meet in Trieste, Italy two weeks ago.
Italy’s Claudio Michel Stecchi came in fourth with 5.50m on his first attempt while reigning Olympic champion Thiago Braz of Brazil finished fifth with 5.50m on his second attempt.
American Sam Kendricks, the 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medalist, failed to compete after his poles did not arrive on time.
Up next for Obiena is a virtual pole vault competition with fellow Tokyo Olympians Pawel Wojciechowski and Matt Ludwig on Monday.