APPARENTLY still figuring out how to regain his top form, Ernest John Obiena opened his outdoor season with a mediocre jump of 5.62 meters to place seventh in the men’s pole vault of the Wanda Diamond League Xiamen stop at the windy Egret Stadium in Xiamen, China late Saturday night.
Fresh from a three-week training at the Vermosa Sports Hub in Imus, Cavite, Obiena cleared 5.42 meters on his first attempt, was successful at 5.62 meters on his second try but could go no further, failing at 5.72 meters, beaten to sixth spot on the countback by Aussie and fellow Paris Olympian Kurtis Marschall.
The Tondo-born pole vault ace holds the Asian record of six meters flat but has been struggling with his performance since the Paris Olympics, where he finished fourth with a jump of 5.90 meters, revealing after the meet that he had been dealing with a spine injury that required surgery.
As expected, sensational Swede and back-to-back Olympic gold medalist Armand Duplantis easily topped the elite event with a jump of 5.92 meters before bowing out at the height of 6.01 meters, while Paris Olympic bronze medalist Emmanouil Karalis took runner-up honors with a jump of 5.92 meters.
He beat Menno Vloon on the countback as the Dutch veteran had more attempts at the same height in the meet featuring nine of the top 10 men’s pole vaulters in the world, with Paris Summer Games silver medalist Sam Kendricks having an off day and languishing in eighth place at 5.62 meters.
“Yeah, take the win. It was not the easiest day out there. I think probably for most of the guys. We had a little bit of trouble with the wind,” noted Duplantis of the low jumps by most of the athletes in the powerhouse field.
“Hopefully we can be a little more sharp in the second leg (at Shanghai) on the China trip, but overall, it was good fun and to be able to come away with a win was good. Good crowd. Good atmosphere. It is a very nice stadium so I just take it for what it was,” Duplantis added.
The world No. 1 was referring to the next stop of the Wanda Diamond League series on Saturday in the Chinese commercial hub of Shanghai, featuring the same star-studded cast.
