Obiena soars to two-year best

MANILA, Philippines — World No. 14 pole vaulter EJ Obiena has jumped closer to regaining his once lofty ranking as his 5.85m clearance in Madrid the other day was his best in 41 competitions over the last two years. PATAFA president Terry Capistrano said with Obiena’s present trajectory, he’ll be a serious contender for a podium finish at the 2028 LA Olympics. Obiena has cleared at least 5.80m in his last three tournaments.

No qualifying mark has yet been set for the next Olympics but in the previous edition in Tokyo, the standard was 5.82m. For the World Athletics Championships in Beijing on Sept. 11-19 next year, the qualifying mark is 5.90m.

In Madrid, Germany’s Bo Handa Lia Baehre took the gold with a 5.90m leap. Obiena claimed the silver on countback after a deadlock with Portugal’s Pedro Buaro at 5.85m. Obiena tried to clear 5.95m but failed. He’ll take a two-week break then review the competitions to participate in before the Nagoya Asian Games on Sept. 19-Oct. 4.

An adjustment that Obiena made to propel his recent surge was using bigger poles. Because of back and health issues the past two years, he resorted to smaller poles which aren’t as stiff and don’t propel a vaulter as much. Obiena has also moved camp from Formia, Italy to Athens where he trains with World No. 2 Emmanouil Karalis and his new coach Marcin Szczepanski of Poland. The shift in environment has given Obiena a positive vibe. But the biggest change is his health as Obiena is back at full strength with a sharper mental focus.

“The bigger the pole, the higher you can go as you get the thrust,” noted athletics guru and Obiena’s adviser Jim Lafferty. “Coach Marcin has been a fresh look. He’s a proponent of working the big poles which are harder to bend but when recoiling, they throw the vaulter higher. It’s also risky to go bigger as if you miss, you miss big. Just hearing EJ talk about training, he’s different. He talks about how he and Karalis are simulating meets in practice, how he does jumping drills with the No. 1 long jumper in the world. You can tell EJ has spring in his step. He has always been beyond disciplined and fit. He is now at a normal 20-step approach. It’s a new EJ emerging.”