EJ Obiena wins silver, resets national pole vault record anew in Poland tiff

MANILA, Philippines — Tokyo-bound EJ Obiena once again proved his readiness for the Tokyo Olympics after a silver medal finish in the Irena Szewinska Memorial 2021 held in Bydgoszcz, Poland on Wednesday (Thursday, Manila time).

Obiena cleared a new Philippine pole vault record en route to the second-place result with a 5.87m clearance — which smashed the old record that Obiena set just last June 11 when he cleared 5.85m in the Jump and Fly tiff in Germany.

The 25-year-old took the new national record in two attempts before failing to reach 5.92m in three tries which put USA's Chris Nilsen on the top of the podium in the tiff.

The American pole vaulter only needed one attempt at 5.87m and 5.92m to rule the competition. He would then go on to attempt 5.97m but did not succeed.

The bronze medalist, Piotr Lisek of Poland, cleared 5.82m for the third-place finish.

Nilsen and Lisek are among Obiena's competitors in Tokyo.

Obiena is expected to compete in two more meets to be held in Sweden before the Games kick off in Japan.