EJ Obiena wins gold in Czech Republic pole vault meet

OSTRAVA, Czech Republic - Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John "EJ" Obiena won the gold in the men's pole vault at the Golden Spike Meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic on Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Obiena, the first Filipino to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, stole the show from the likes of Renaud Lavillenie, Sam Kendricks and Thiago Braz, taking the honors for 5.74 meters.

This follows Obiena's triple victories last month, as he won the silver at the 13th International Triveneto Meeting in Trieste, Italy; the bronze at the Diamond League in Monaco; and the silver in the FINEst Pole Vaulter in the World virtual competition.

Warholm, other pole vaulters

Norway's Karsten Warholm meanwhile failed in his bid to set a new world record in the men's 400m hurdles at Tuesday's Golden Spike meet.

The 24-year-old is in electric form and in Stockholm two weeks ago came within 0.09 seconds of Kevin Young's long-standing world record of 46.78sec which the American set at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

A false start did not help matters in Ostrava, where Warholm blasted off to his usual fast start at the second time of calling.

But the two-time world champion flagged coming through for victory at the line, clocking 47.62sec.

"It's always nice to get a win," the 24-year-old Norwegian told reporters.

"Today I was a bit surprised by the time to be honest, I actually thought it was faster."

"But this is sport and... you've got to take whatever you get," Warholm said, refusing to blame the false start.

"You don't want this of course, but it's part of the game."

But he admitted he had to adjust his pace in the final turn of the race.

"There is nothing dramatic about it, I needed to do a switch and maybe that was what cost me a good time today," said Warholm.

"Everything that ruins the rhythm is bad for the sake of time of course."

Warholm only agreed to run at Ostrava last week after weighing carefully the pros and cons of competing in the eastern Czech steel hub during the coronavirus pandemic.

"We are starting to get used to it, this is our third meet and I think we're very good at doing the right decisions and being smart considering the virus," he said.

"I have a plan about going to Rome for the Diamond League (on September 17) but time will show."

Elsewhere in Ostrava, two-time Olympic triple jump champion Christian Taylor cleared a world-leading 17.46 meters in his final jump, beating Fabrice Zango Hugues by four centimetres.

Britain's Laura Muir clocked 1min 58.84sec on 800 meters for the world's second best time of the season.

Kenyan reigning Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon ran 1,500 meters in 3min 59.05sec, becoming the second woman this year to go under four minutes. —Agence France-Presse/KG, GMA News