SHRUGGING off his setback in the recent Paris Olympic Games, Ernest John Obiena jumped 5.82 meters early yesterday morning (Wednesday night in Europe) to finish tied for third in the Athletissima meet at the Stade Olympique dela Pontaise in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Obiena, who finished fourth in the Paris Olympic men’s pole vault event after clearing 5.90 meters, shared the bronze with fellow 2024 Summer Games veterans Kurtis Marschall of Australia and Sondre Guttormsen of Norway.
American Sam Kendricks, who took the silver medal in the French capital with a jump of 5.95 meters, cleared 5.92 meters to play second fiddle anew behind Swedish Paris Olympic gold medalist Armand Duplantis, who set a new meet record of 6.15 meters in the 11th stop of the Wanda Diamond League series.
Obiena needed only two jumps to achieve the podium finish 18 days after he fell a jump short of a bronze at the La Stade de France.
Kendricks, who started conservatively at 5.32 meters, needed six jumps to claiming runner-up honors after he, Obiena, Marschall and Guttormsen cleared 5.82 meters with one jump.
Kendricks failed when the bar was raised to six meters flat, leaving Duplantis all alone at the top.
Wanting to please the gallery at the 15,000-seat arena, the phenomenal Swede raised the bar to set the Swiss all-comers mark on his third and final attempt.
“It’s always nerve-wracking when you have a big performance like I did at the Olympics. I stepped out on the track today and I really loved it,” Duplantis said.
“I rode the wave of a lot of great competitors today,” said Kendricks, referring to his fellow Olympians who had given him the needed boost to perform well.
