EJ starts season with silver in Germany

MANILA, Philippines — World No. 3 EJ Obiena showed a lot of hope and optimism to start the 2023 season as he captured a silver medal in the International Jump Meeting Cottbus in Germany yesterday.

Like his rivals, the Filipino World Championship bronze medalist was understandably rusty coming from a long break.

But he nonetheless came through with a runner-up showing following a 5.77-meter clearance  to finish just behind seasoned American Sam Kendricks, who took the gold at 5.82m.

Belgian Ben Broeders copped the bronze as he edged countryman Gillian Ladwig via count back with the two both registering 5.72m.

Never mind that the top two vaulters in the planet – Swedish titan Armand Duplantis and American Christopher Nilsen – skipped the event.

It was still a respectable start for the Asian record-holder who is hoping for a breakthrough year, with a target of finally breaching the six-meter mark.

It will be a hectic year for Obiena who is to see action in the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships slated Feb. 10 to 12 in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan, the Phnom Penh Southeast Asian Games in May and the Hangzhou Asian Games in September.

And these are just part of Obiena’s bigger, grander plan to capture a medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics.