Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena during the Orlen Copernicus Cup. -ORLEN COPERNICUS CUP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—EJ Obiena matched his season-best and took home the gold medal in the 2022 Orlen Copernicus Cup at Arena Toruń in Poland Tuesday.
The Filipino pole vaulter cleared 5.81 meters to take the title, tying his best jump of the year he set during his gold medal campaign in the Orlen Cup in Lodz, Poland 10 days ago.
Belgium’s Ben Broeders took the silver with a 5.71m jump while Brazil’s Thiago Braz, the 2016 Rio Olympics champion, settled for the bronze at 5.71m.
Broeders, whose clearance was a season-best, beat Braz for the second place due to countback.
Obiena easily went over 5.41m in his first run but struggled at 5.61m needing three attempts to clear the height.
He then breezed through 5.71m before his title-winning clearance at 5.81m.
Obiena, who finished 10th in the Meeting Hauts-De-France tilt last week, is also preparing for the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Belgrade, Serbia on March 18 until 20.