ERNEST John Obiena underlined his status as a serious Olympic medal contender yesterday by placing second behind Swedish-American sensation Mondo Duplantis with a jump of 5.80 meters in the FBK Games at the Blankers-Koen Stadion in Hengelo, the Netherlands.
Obiena beat Dutchman Meno Vloon on the countback after both cleared the same height in the meet named after the late athletic great Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won a sprint double plus gold medals in the women’s hurdles and 4×100-meter relay in the 1948 London Olympic Games.
Duplantis was in a class of his own, clinching the gold by clearing 6.10 meters on his third and final jump for the best men’s pole vault performance so far this season while proving once again that he is the man to beat in the Tokyo Olympic Games next month.
Rio Olympic Games gold medalist Thiago Braz continued to grope for his old winning form, relegated to fifth place by hometown bet Rutger Koppelaar, who cleared 5.62 meters.
It was remarkable improvement of 10 centimeters for Obiena, who took the gold medal with a jump of 5.70 meters last week in the Gothenburg Grand Prix in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The lean and lanky pole vaulter, who cleared the 5.80-meter mark on his first try, made a bid to match his national record of 5.86 meters set last February when he took the silver medal in the Copernicus Cup in Lodz Poland, but missed on all his three tries at the height.
As of May 31, the 30th Southeast Asian Games gold medalist remained at No. 10 in the World Athletics men’s pole vault rankings topped by Duplantis, with American and 2019 world champion Sam Kendricks in second, followed by Poland’s Piotr Lisek.
“EJ is still trying to adjust his grip with his new poles but he is getting there with his timing,” said his father and national coach Emerson, also a former national athlete who won a silver medal in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
“If my son was like a robot this would come automatically but as a former athlete myself it really takes time before you get familiarized in using a new pole,” the elder Obiena noted.
