EJ finds gold in Poland

MANILA, Philippines — Olympian pole-vaulter EJ Obiena showed he’s back in full strength as he topped the Orlen Cup with a season-best performance of 5.81 meters in Lodz, Poland Friday night.

While the winning effort was below his all-time best of 5.93 he set in the Golden Roof Challenge in Innsbruck, Austria last year, it was a big improvement from a pair of 5.70ms he booked in the ISTAF Indoor in Berlin, Germany last week where he finished fourth and the Beijer Stavhoppsgala last Thursday in Uppsala, Sweden where he ended up eighth.

Obiena went for 5.90m in his first two attempts but failed and, with an eye at eclipsing the national and Asian records that he owns, targeted 5.95m but also failed to clear it.

Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Thiago Braz of Brazil took the silver while Piotr Lisek of Poland the bronze with both clearing 5.70m.

The Southeast Asian Games gold medalist is hoping for more improvement in his succeeding competitions including the Meeting Hauts-de-France on Friday in Lievin, France.

The recent performance also showed the surgery to repair a torn meniscus last month and the current spat with the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) are all behind him now.