By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Pole vault star EJ Obiena is slowly getting his rhythm back.
Obiena proved this by winning his first title in this year’s indoor season by beating fellow elite athletes in the Orlen Cup 2022 at the Atlas Arena in Lodz, Poland Friday (Saturday in Manila).
The 26-year-old Tokyo Olympian cleared a season-best 5.81 meters on his first attempt to dominate 2016 Rio Olympics champion Thiago Braz of Brazil and hometown bet Piotr Lisek, who finished with identical 5.71m.
Obiena tried to clear 5.90m twice and 5.95m once but failed in all occasions.
It was Obiena’s third tournament in two weeks, starting his season at the ISTAF Indoor Berlin in Germany last Feb. 4 followed by the Beijer Stavhoppsgala in Uppsala, Sweden last Wednesday.
He tallied identical 5.70m on both tournaments, finishing fourth in Berlin and eighth in Uppsala.
But Obiena is slowly picking up his game in hopes of eclipsing his own national and Asian record of 5.93m he posted in an Austrian meet last year.
Up next for Obiena would be the Meeting Hauts-De-France in Lievin, France on Feb. 17, followed by the Orlen Copernicus Cup in Torun, Poland on Feb. 22.
