STILL groping for form, Ernest John Obiena jumped 5.72 meters over the weekend to wind up in seventh place at the Herculis EBS meet, the 10th leg of the Wanda Diamond League series at the Stade Louis II Stadium in Fonteville, Monaco.
Obiena was beaten on the count back by Dutch veteran and fellow Paris Olympian Menno Vloonb in the competition won by reigning world and Olympic champion Mondo Duplantis of Sweden, who set a new meet record of 6.05 meters, surpassing the old mark set by Poland’s Piotr Lisek of 6.02 meters in 2019.
Greek world No. 2 Emmanouil Kraals took the silver, clearing 5.92 meters, while Australian Kurtis Marschall had an extra try at the same height to settle for bronze with four more legs in series before the lucrative Wanda Diamond League finals, the Weltklasse Zurich, from Aug. 27 to 28 at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich, Switzerland.
It was another frustrating outing for Obiena, 29, who holds the Asian record of six meters flat, whose best jump so far this year has been 5.80 meters twice, the last one set at the Patafa Philippine Pole Vault Challenge on May 6 at the Vermosa Sports Hub track oval in Imus, Cavite.
He has only mustered a total of 10 points so far in the series, good for seventh spot, leaving him out of the six qualifiers to the Wanda Diamond League pole vault finals, offering a top prize of $50,000 (roughly P2.8 million).
There won’t be a men’s pole vault event in the next stop in London on Friday so Obiena will likely return to the series at the KamillaSkolimoska Memorial on Aug. 17 at the StadionSlazski in Chorzów, Poland.
