OLYMPIC-BOUND Ernest John Obiena opened his outdoor season on a triumphant note early yesterday morning (Saturday night in the US) by ruling the men’s pole vault event of the prestigious Los Angeles Grand Prix with a jump of 5.80 meters at the Drake Stadium inside the UCLA campus in California.
Competing against a stellar field that included fellow Tokyo Olympians Chris Nilsen and KC Lightfoot of the US and two-time American world champ Sam Kendricks, Obiena needed just four jumps to outshine the hometown bets for a huge psychological boost with the Paris Olympics just over two months away.
Norway’s surprising Simem Guttormsen shared runner-up honors with Lightfoot, clearing 5.70 meters, while Nilsen, a silver medalist behind sensational Swede Armand Duplantis in the Tokyo Summer Games, also cleared the same height but was relegated to bronze on the countback.
Looking out-of-synch, Kendricks wound up sixth with a jump of 5.60 meters, likewise being beaten on the countback by compatriot Jacob Wooten.
Ranked No. 2 in the world, Obiena looked calm and confident after emerging from a 45-day intensive training at the Chula Elite Training Center in Chula Vista, California.
Also competing in the same meet was Olympic aspirant Lauren Hoffman who, still feeling the effects of jet lag after leaving Manila last Wednesday, clocked 55.84 seconds to wind up fifth in the women’s 400-meter hurdles.
Currently ranked No. 27 in the World Athletics qualifying rankings, Hoffman earned 1,200 ranking points for her efforts, according to Bo Navarro, the co-founder of FILAM Sports, which supports her and other US-based athletes with Filipino ancestry.
Also finding success yesterday was six-time Southeast Asian Games 400-meter hurdles king Eric Cray, who topped his favorite event in the Meeting National dela Martinique in the French Caribbean Island, clocking 50.31 seconds to gain valuable ranking points in his bid to compete in Paris after representing the country in the 2016 Rio Games.
Over at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium yesterday afternoon, Olympic hopeful John Cabang Tolentino seemed awed by the WA Athletics Tour gold event and wound up in ninth and last place in the men’s 110-meter hurdles in 13.72 seconds.
Also seeking to punch tickets to Paris, Robyn Brown and Kristina Knott were scheduled to compete in the women’s 400-meter hurdles and 200-meter dash, respectively, in the Barcelona International meet last night (early morning in Manila).
Scheduled to compete in the first Asian Relays starting today at the Thammasat Sports Complex in Bangkok, Thailand were Hussein Hussein Loraña, Michael Del Prado, Frederick Ramirez and Joyme Sequita and Bernalyn Bejoy and Angel Frank.
Del Prado, Ramirez, Frank and Bejoy were scheduled to see action in the 4×400-meter mixed relays at 7:35 tonight while the Del Prado, Ramirez, Sequita and Loraña were to compete in the men’s 4×400-meter relays tomorrow.
