UNDER an overcast Sunday afternoon and after his dismal outing at the world athletic meet just over a week ago, Ernes John Obiena found redemption right in his own backyard, ruling the inaugural Atletang Ayala World Pole Vault Challenge with a jump of 5.80 meters in front of an animated home crowd at the Ayala Triangle Garden in Makati City.
Obiena, who exited the world track meet in Tokyo, Japan, with a pedestrian jump of 5.55 meters in the preliminaries, bagged the gold with his clean second jump at the height to match his season best while relegating Frenchman Thibaut Collett, who cleared it on his third jump, to the silver medal on the countback.
Polish veteran Piotr Lisek, who was all praises on how the two-day meet was run, took the bronze with a jump of 5.60 meters in the unique pole vault competition jointly supported by the Ayala Atleta Foundation and the MVP Sports Foundation.
The moving force behind the project, the lanky and lean Obiena made a back flip on the custom-made runway after realizing that he had captured the mint before a gallery of around 2,000, who braved an early downpour that threatened to wash out the pole vault showcase.
“I am very thankful for the comeback win, a fairy-tale finish, you would say. In my head I kept on thinkin, ‘what face would I have had I lost; this is my best performance of the year,” he said.
Both Thibault, who finished fifth at the worlds, and three-time Olympian Piotr Lisek raved about the competition held in the heart of the country’s commercial and financial capital.
“I was a pleasure for me to compete here with these handsome guys,” Lisek, the senior statesman in the group at 33, said, adding that “the crowd was amazing. The competition was very professional so I am glad to be here.”
“If there is anyone who knows about meets like these, it is this guy (Lisek). He has been in this for so long,” stressed Obiena of the well-traveled Polish pole vaulter, also a former European indoor champion.
