By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
EJ Obiena struck fear into the hearts of his rivals in the Paris Olympics by capturing the gold medal with a season-best performance in the 6th Irena Szewińska Memorial in Bydgoszcz, Poland on Friday, June 21 (Manila time).
The world No. 2 pole vaulter cleared the bar at 5.97 meters to rule the 10-player field that include fellow Paris-bound Emmanouil Karalis of Greece and veteran hometown bet Piotr Lisek.
Karalis settled for the silver medal with a personal-best 5.92m while Lisek, a three-time world championship medalist, registered 5.75m for the bronze.
After clearing 5.92m on his second attempt, Karalis passed 5.97m and went for 6.02m with hopes of grabbing the gold medal but failed.
Obiena also tried 6.02m but was unsuccessful.
He started at 5.55m which he cleared with ease, then went on to clear 5.75m – also flawlessly.
He needed two attempts to clear 5.87m and passed 5.92m before taking the 5.97m mark.
It was Obiena’s best performance so far, eclipsing his previous season-best of 5.93m he posted at the ISTAF Indoor in Berlin, Germany last February.
It also boosted his preparations for the upcoming Summer Games slated July 26 to Aug. 11.
Prior to Obiena’s golden feat, he was coming off a seventh-place finish at the Bauhaus-Galan Wanda Diamond League in Stockholm, Sweden early this month that was won by world record holder and reigning Olympic champion Armand “Mondo” Duplantis.
In that meet, he managed only 5.70m.
