ERNEST JOHN “EJ” OBIENA cleared 5.80 meters to share the silver medal with American KC Lightfoot on Sunday in the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial Pole Vault Competition in Chorzów, Poland.
Obiena attempted twice for 5.80m and made it. He tried 5.86m but missed.
Chris Nilsen won the gold medal with a 5.86-meter performance, while Australian Kurtis Marschall finished outside the podium with 5.70m.
The silver made up for Obiena’s 10th-place finish in last Friday’s Wanda Diamond League leg in Brussels, Belgium, where he did 5.65m.
Despite the silver, the 25-year-old 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist still qualified for the final leg of the Diamond League set on September 8 and 9 in Zurich, Switzerland.
Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Armand Duplantis is competing in Zurich.
Obiena had a forgettable Olympic debut last August 3 in Tokyo after placing 11th among 12 participants with a 5.70-meter effort.
Obiena returned to competition after his Tokyo stint and reset the Philippine record with a 5.91-meter silver medal-clinching effort at the Wanda Diamond League leg at the Stade Charlety in Paris, France.
He shattered his own 5.87-meter national record he set last June in Poland.