Obiena falls short anew, settles for 5th

Ernest John Obiena missed the podium anew as he finished fifth in the men’s pole vault event of the Silesia leg of the Diamond League on Monday at the Silesian Arena in Chorzow, Poland.

The 28-year-old Obiena faded against the star power of Swedish superstar Armand Duplantis as he failed to clear the 5.92-meter barrier twice after clearing 5.82 meters.

With that, he settled for fifth while Duplantis went on to shatter the world record for the 10th time with a 6.26-meter performance to win the gold medal.

Still, Obiena took home $1,250 — or around P70,000 — for finishing fifth and getting the third spot in the overall ranking with 28 points.

Obiena needs to be in the top eight of the Diamond League rankings to qualify for the final round in Brussels from 13 to 14 September.

Emmanouil Karalis, who denied Obiena of a podium finish at the Paris Summer Games by taking the bronze, finished third place anew after notching over six meters for the first time in his career.

Paris Summer Games silver medalist Sam Kendricks of the United States took second place over Karalis after only needing two attempts to reach 6.0m.

Kendricks’ teammate KC Lightfoot finished at fourth place after going over 5.92m while another American pole vaulter in Christopher Nilsen took sixth place over Kurtis Marschall of Australia and eighth placers Thibaut Collet of France and home bet Piotr Lisek via countback after clearing 5.72m with two attempts.

Olympic gold medalist and French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie got 10th place via countback over Polish foe Robert Sobera after clearing 5.62m in just one attempt.