Obiena snares silver in French tilt

ERNEST John “EJ” Obiena claimed a silver medal in the Meeting International de Sotteville at the Jean Adret Stadium in France early Saturday, July 8 (Manila time).

Five days after clearing 5.82 m at the Bauhaus-Galan in Sweden, where he notched a silver medal and became the first Filipino to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Obiena only surpassed 5.72 m this time in France to finish second.

EJ Obiena AFP FILE PHOTO 

Aussie Kurtis Marschall posted a personal best of 5.95 m to place first and seize the gold medal in the 10-team field, which had six French participating.

One of those six was Baptiste Thiery, who also unleashed a personal high of 5.72 m to finish third and clinch the bronze medal.

Obiena, 27, placed higher than Thiery, as the former cleared 5.72 m in just one attempt while the latter did so in two tries.

The 6-foot-2 Obiena skipped 5.22 m, 5.42 m and 5.62 m to start at 5.72 m and aced the said height right away.

Obiena skipped 5.82 m and proceeded to clear 5.87 m but failed in two tries. He then made his last attempt at 5.92 but was still unsuccessful.

Nonetheless, Obiena’s performance was still good enough to keep his podium streak alive in his outdoor season campaign this year.

Those podium finishes, which are now in their seventh straight, started with the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where he seized his third straight gold medal by setting a new meet standard of 5.65 m.

Obiena then cleared 5.72 m and clinched a bronze at the Memorial Irena Szewinska in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on June 7 before posting a new Asian record of 6.0 m at the Bergen Jump Challenge, where he got a gold in Norway on June 10.

The pride of Tondo, Manila, proceeded to hurdle 5.81 m and took a bronze medal at the Oslo Diamond League-Bislett Games in Norway on June 16.

Obiena then went on to surpass 5.90 m for another bronze medal at the Ostrava Golden Spike in the Czech Republic on June 28 before acing 5.82 m in Bauhaus-Galan in Sweden for a silver on July 3.