MANILA, Philippines – Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena has yet to recover his groove in his second competition after surgery as he finished just joint-eighth in the Beijer Stavhoppsgala at Uppsala Sweden on Wednesday (early Thursday, Manila time).
Though needing only one attempt to clear 5.70m, Obiena failed thrice at his attempt at 5.81m, despite his personal best in Indoor at 5.86m.
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The results placed him in the lower half of the leader board of the 11-man pole vault competition.
Unsurprisingly, it was world record holder Armand Duplantis who ruled the competition in his home country.
He cleared a world-leading height of 6.04m for the season but failed to reset his own record of 6.18m as he was unable to clear 6.19m in three attempts.
Duplantis has been seeking to rewrite his own record since the Tokyo Olympics last year.
The United States’ Chris Nilsen and KC Lightfoot took second and third place, respectively, with 5.92m.
Nilsen only needed one attempt while Lightfoot tried it twice before clearing hence their position.
Joining Obiena at eighth place is Nilsen and Lightfoot's compatriot Sam Kendricks.
Obiena will attempt to return to his winning ways on Friday as he competes in the Orlen Cup in Poland.