ERNEST John Obiena set a new national indoor record of 5.91 meters yesterday and finished second behind Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Christopher Nielsen, who ruled the Perche Elite Tour men’s pole vault event in a new US indoor mark of 6.05 meters in Rouen, France.
In his season-best performance so far, Obiena cleared the bar on his first jump and relegated to third place training partner and Rio Olympic men’s pole vault champion Tiago Braz, who needed three tries to clear the bar.
Obiena raised his own national indoor mark by five centimeters (1.9 inches) as he surpassed his previous best of 5.86 meters set in a runner-up finish in the Orlen Cup in Lodz, Poland on Feb. 12, 2021.
Veteran Frenchman and 2012 London Summer Games gold medalist Renauld Lavillenie had an off day and finished 10th in the field of 11 entries, clearing just 5.51 meters, way off his personal best of 6.16 meters.
Obiena earned $1,500 (roughly P77,925) for his efforts to boost his indoor earnings to $6,750 (422,925).
Obiena’s latest performance would have been a nice tune-up for the World Indoor Championships scheduled March 18 to 20 in Belgrade, Serbia, whose registration deadline is today, March 7.
But his entry to the prestigious meet remains hanging after the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association informed him the decision to accredit him would depend on the completion of the mediation process being brokered by the Philippine Sports Commission.
Obiena only agreed to come to the bargaining table last Feb. 28 after twice rejecting the initiative of PSC Chairman William “Butch” Ramirez, who had appealed to both parties to reconcile their differences as early as last November.
Obiena had made a request to Patafa four days earlier to approve his entry to the world indoor meet and three other international competitions. Patafa renewed its commitment to the process last March 1.
Aside from the world meet, the other three international competitions are the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games in May, the World Athletic Championships in Eugene, Oregon in July, and the Hangzhou Asian Games in September.
Obiena was not in the list of athletes submitted by the Patafa to the Philippine Olympic Committee for the regional sportsfest set May 12 to 23 slated in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi and neighboring areas.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe wrote Patafa President Philip Ella Juico last February recognizing the local track body as the supreme authority for athletics in the country.
