ERNEST John Obiena opened his indoor season on a triumphant note Tuesday night (early morning in Manila yesterday), jumping 5.83 meters to set a new meet record in ruling the men’s pole vault of the Memorial Josip Gasparac, a World Athletics Indoor Tour bronze event, in Osijek, Croatia.
After a grueling, nearly 13-hour, 1,308-kilometer overland trip together with his team, including 78-year-old Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov, to the city considered one of Croatia’s economic and cultural hubs, Obiena looked none the worse for wear in performing at the tunnel-like Gradski Vrt Hall.
With only four jumps, starting at 5.51 meters, the country’s first Paris Olympic-bound athlete clinched the gold medal and set the new meet record, erasing the previous standard of 5.72 meters of Emmanouil Karalis of Greece.
Eager to please the crowd, Obiena tried but failed in clearing the bar at 5.93 meters.
Portuguese Pedro Buaro (5.73) settled for silver while American Olen Tray Oates (5.61) took the bronze in pole vault-only competition, which, according to the World Athletics website, featured 20 of the world’s top athletes in the demanding event.
