The rise of EJ Obiena continued on Saturday morning (Manila time).
Asia’s best pole vaulter cleared 5.81-meters to win the Orlen Cup held in Lodz, Poland.
This is the first time this season Obiena cleared 5.81m after finishing with 5.7m in both the ISTAF Indoor meet in Berlin and the Beijer Stavhoppsgala in Uppsala.
Obiena needed just one attempt to clear the height.
Already clearing 5.81m, the 26-year-old native of Tondo, Manila made three attempts for a 5.9m-plus finish. He was not able to clear 5.90 before making an attempt at breaking his own record.
In his third try, he raised the bar to 5.95m – .02m higher than the current Asian record he set back on September 12 of last year during the Golden Rooftop Challenge in Innsbruck, Austria. Obiena though could not make the leap, landing on the crash mat.
Brazilian Thiago Braz placed second, while Poland’s Piotr Lisek finished third. Braz needed just one try to clear 5.71m, but Lisek needed a couple of attempts.
Up next for Obiena is the Meeting Hauts-de-France.
