Obiena struggles to regain form

MANILA, Philippines — It’s been a challenge for World No. 4 pole vaulter EJ Obiena to regain the form that brought him to two Olympics and second place at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest two years ago. After barely claiming the gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea, Obiena finished fifth at the FBK Games Continental Tour Gold in Hengelo, Netherlands, last Monday and crashed out with no clearance at the Diamond League leg in Oslo, Norway, last Thursday.

The Oslo showing was a signal that Obiena’s bid to shine at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sept. 13-21 is in danger. He failed to register a clear jump in three tries at 5.62m after skipping the initial 5.40m bar. Obiena wound up out of the standings among 10 competitors. World No. 1 Mondo Duplantis took first place with a leap  of 6.15m. World No. 2 Emmanouil Karalis, who cleared 5.90m with Obiena at the Paris Olympics but bagged the bronze on a countback, was second with a jump of 5.82m.

“I pulled my back on the first jump and that affected every subsequent jump,” said Obiena. “We will assess over the next few days and see how it progresses. For now, I am day to day.”

In Hengelo, Obiena cleared 5.66m with USA’s Keaton Daniel, China’s Zhong Tao and France’s Thibaut Collet to share third place but dropped to fifth on a countback. It was the first-ever tournament where Obiena fell below an Asian as Zhong ended up fourth. Zhong, 22, is ranked World No. 41 and registered his personal best clearance of 5.75m last year. Obiena started out by skipping the initial 5.40m bar then took two attempts before clearing 5.56m. He jumped 5.66m in one try but couldn’t hurdle 5.74m in three attempts.

PATAFA secretary-general Jasper Tanhueco said he’s optimistic of an upturn. “It happens, that’s field events for you,” he said. “You either make it or you don’t.  I’m sure his team will make the necessary adjustments.”