Obiena aims to regain winning form

A full-recovered Ernest John Obiena will be on the prowl when the Monaco leg of the Diamond League fires off this Saturday at the Stade Louis II in Fontvieille, Monaco.

All eyes will be on the world No. 4 Obiena at the 1 a.m. (Manila time) event as he is out to redeem himself from a string of forgettable performances, including a seventh-place finish in the Stockholm leg last June.

In Stockholm, the 29-year-old Obiena managed to set only 5.70 meters while hometown bet and Olympic champion Armand Duplantis soared to a record-breaking 6.28-meter performance.

But it’s going to be an entirely different story this time as Obiena stressed that he is feeling a lot better heading into the crucial Monaco leg.

“I feel good. I’m finally getting into the rhythm of things,” said Obiena, who fell behind Duplantis, Emmanouil Karalis and Sam Kendricks in the world ranking after occupying the second spot last year.

“Finally got that through out of the way and hopefully starts jumping where I believe I could be. I’m getting brutally honest. I don’t think I’m there yet where I was, but I’m definitely getting in the right direction.”

“So it’s a good place to definitely test where I’m at.”

Challenging Obiena’s bid for redemption are Americans Kendricks and KC Lightfoot as well as Greek Karalis, Kurtis Marschall of Australia, Ben Broeders of Belgium, Menno Vloon of the Netherlands and 2012 London Summer Games champion Renaud Lavillenie and Thibaut Collet of France.

A solid performance by Obiena will give him points for the Diamond League that will be held from 27 to 28 in Zurich.