Pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena keeps his head up despite his dismal seventh-place finish at the ISTAF Indoor in Dusseldorf, Germany over the weekend.

Obiena said he needs to improve after only clearing 5.55 meters in the German competition.

This is the two-time Olympian’s first competition in 2025 where he didn’t clinch a medal in the indoor circuit.

“Not how I wanted it to go. Made one bar and summed up the whole competition,” Obiena said.

“Taking the positives and the lessons to the next one. We keep moving forward.”

So far, Obiena has one gold and one silver in the indoor season.

The Italy-based pole vaulter took part in the International Springer-Meeting Cottbus in Germany last January after clearing 5.65m.

Then, Obiena won the Meeting Metz Moselle Athletor in France last Sunday after clearing a season-best 5.70m.

Now, Obiena’s next challenge would be defending his title in the ISTAF Indoor in Berlin on Friday.

It was in the German capital last year where Obiena set a new Asian indoor record of 5.93m.

Obiena is building up for the World Athletics Indoor Championships from 21 to 23 March in Nanjing, China.