AFTER soaring in his last two meets, Ernest John Obiena took a reality check early yesterday morning (Sunday night in Europe), winding up fourth with a jump of 5.75 meters in the men’s pole vault event at the Meeting de Paris against most of his Olympic rivals at the Bercy Arena in Paris, France.
Entering the Wanda Diamond League leg armed with two wins in his last two competitions in Poland, Obiena was eased out of a podium finish by unheralded Frenchman Thibaut Collet, who cleared 5.85 meters for the bronze medal.
Obiena shared fourth with fellow Tokyo Olympian Emmanouil Karalis of Greece meters while reigning world and Olympic champion Armand Duplantis of Sweden took the gold with a jump of six meters flat. He failed in his try for a new world record at 6.25 meters.
Resurgent American Sam Kendricks, a former two-time world champion who missed the Tokyo Olympics due to COVID-19, emerged as an early contender for the Paris Summer Games, securing the silver medal with a season-tying best jump of 5.95 meters.
Other athletes in the competition who will likewise be back in the French capital when the Olympic pole vault event opens on Aug. 3 at the 80,000-seat Stade de France include Australian Kurtis Marschall, who placed sixth after clearing 5.75 meters but with more attempts.
Polish Piotr Lisek, who also earned a return trip to the Olympics, was tied for seventh with American KC Lightfoot at the same height of 5.75 meters while Olympic-bound Belgian Broeders finished 9th at 5.65 meters.
Starting at No. 13 out of 14 entries, Obiena easily cleared 6.50 meters on his first try, skipped 6.65 meters, and then handily soared over 5.75 meters on his initial attempt.
Having seen Kendricks, who was two spots ahead of him, nailing the height of 5.95 meters, the lanky Pinoy vaulter decided to go for broke when he failed to clear the bar at 5.85 meters on his first two tries.
But much to his dismay, Obiena, who holds the national and Asian record of six meters flat, failed to make it, prompting him to go back to the drawing board with famed Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov with the Paris Olympic men’s pole vault qualifiers less than a month away.
