Obiena wins gold in Poland tilt

MANILA, Philippines -- Olympic pole vaulter EJ Obiena has returned to his winning ways after ruling the Irena Szewinska Memorial in Bydgoszcz, Poland on Friday (Manila time.)

Obiena, who will compete in the Paris Olympics next month, flew over 5.97 meters in the competition to grab the lead over Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis, who had the advantage at the time with 5.92 meters.

The two then tried to go above the 6.02-meter mark but were unable to do so, solidifying Obiena’s win.

Coming in third in the competition is Poland’s Piotr Lisek with 5.75 meters.

It has been an up-and-down string of competitions for Obiena, who won the gold in the Los Angeles Grand Prix last month.

About a week later, he placed seventh at the Ostrava Golden Spike in the Czech Republic as he broke one of his poles.

He bounced back with a silver in the Oslo Bislett Games before being the penultimate pole vaulter once again in the BAUHAUS-galan in Sweden.