ERNEST JOHN “EJ” OBIENA ended the outdoor season with a fourth-place finish at the ISTAF Berlin Pole Vault Tournament on Monday at the historic Olympia-stadion in Berlin, Germany.
After shattering the 28-year-old Asian pole vault record on Sunday, the 25-year-old Obiena jumped 5.81 meters but couldn’t make the podium after failing to clear 5.91 meters.
Americans Sam Kendricks, Christopher Nilsen and KC Lightfoot booked a 1-2-3 finish. The two-time world champion Kendricks needed just one attempt to win the gold at 5.91 meters. Nilsen also cleared 5.91 meters on his second try to settle for the silver.
Lightfoot also made 5.81 meters but got the bronze over Obiena after the countback.
Obiena cleared 5.93 meters at the Golden Roof Challenge in Austria on Sunday to set a new Asian record. He erased the previous continental record of 5.92 meters Kazakhstan’s Igor Potapovich set in Dijon, France, in June 13, 1992.
The Tokyo Olympian Obiena, winner of 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold, attempted thrice to clear 5.81 meters.
The Berlin tournament was Obiena’s sixth and last after the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games where he finished 11th among 12 finalists with a 5.70-meter effort.