EJ Obiena places fourth in ISTAF Berlin meet

A day after EJ Obiena set the new Asian record in pole vault, the Filipino Olympian finished fourth in the ISTAF Berlin tournament in Germany on Sunday (Berlin time).

Obiena needed three attempts to clear the 5.81-meter mark, his last successful clearance in the tiff. He skipped 5.86m to proceed to 5.91m. However, he failed to clear the said level.

The Filipino pole vaulter finished behind Americans Sam Kendricks, Christopher Nilsen, and KC Lightfoot.

Lightfoot also cleared the 5.81-mark to settle for third, however, he only needed one attempt to do it.

Kendricks and Nilsen bagged the first and second spot, respectively, after clearing 5.91 meters. Both skipped the 5.96m level to try the next clearance at 6.01m. However, both pole vaulters failed in all three attempts in the said level.

Obiena on Saturday set a new Asian record after clearing the 5.93m mark in the International Golden Roof Challenge in Innsbruck, Austria. — Justin Kenneth Carandang/BM, GMA News