Obiena rules Orlen Cup, snags second win in four indoor tournaments
By Ernest Martin Tuazon
Thomasian pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena bagged his second gold medal of the 2023 indoor campaign with a 5.77m finish in the 2023 Orlen Cup in Lodz, Poland, early Sunday morning (Philippine time).
Prior to this win, Obiena won the Perche En Or tournament in France with a 5.82m clearance, along with bronze and silver medal finishes in the Mondo Classic and Internationale Springermeeting, respectively.
In a field that consisted of 11 participants, the nation’s Olympian shined the brightest as he kicked off the tournament with a one-vault clearance of 5.61m.
He skipped the height of 5.70m to register a complete vault of 5.77m in two attempts.
American bet Sam Kendricks attempted to take the lead over Obiena who bypassed 5.82m, but Kendricks missed all of his three tries en route to settling for second place.
Obiena, who recently duplicated his indoor national record at the Mondo Classic, remained unsuccessful to reset the title after failing to leap over 5.92m.
Poland’s Piotr Lisek rounded up the podium as he replicated Kendricks’ 5.70m performance, but fell due to the countback rule where he consumed all three attempts to vault over 5.61m compared to Kendricks’ clean vault.
