Tired Obiena settles for silver

Exhaustion finally caught up with Ernest John Obiena as he settled for silver in the 4th Domspringen Wesel in Germany early Wednesday morning (Manila time).

Obiena cleared 5.75 meters on his second attempt to finish behind French champion Robin Emig, who topped the field with a 5.80m clearance, while American Cole Walsh took bronze with 5.70m, beating Ethan Cormont of France on countback.

The silver medal snapped Obiena’s bid for a 10th gold medal of the season after an exhausting stretch that saw him compete in six competitions over the past 14 days.

The 30-year-old pole vaulter is coming off a gold-medal win in the ISTAF Berlin last Monday in Germany where he tallied 5.82m.

“Rough, rough day and tiredness,” Obiena wrote in a social media post.

“Eventually caught up after six competitions this last 14 days. Took too many mistakes at the earlier bars and paid the price.”

Despite the setback, Obiena remains one of the Philippines’ top medal hopes heading into his title-retention campaign in the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan.

With his qualification for the Diamond League and World Athletics Ultimate Championships dashed, Obiena will now look to clinch his second straight Asiad mint to finish his outdoor season on a high note.

Obiena will be one of the Filipino bets to look out for in the Asiad along with boxers Nesthy Petecio, Aira Villegas and Carlo Paalam and brother Carlos and Eldrew Yulo of gymnastics.