
EJ Obiena resumes his indoor pole vault campaign when he competes in the Perche Elite Tour at the Complexe Kindarena in Rouen, France on Saturday.
This would be Obiena’s first tournament this month after battling in five events last February where he clinched two titles.
The 26-year-old national and Asian record holder will be facing a tough field composed of veterans and fellow Olympians.
Among the start list are 2016 Rio Olympics gold medalist Thiago Braz of Brazil, 2012 London Olympics champion Renaud Lavillenie and 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver winner Chris Nilsen of the United States.
Other participants are local bets Valentin Lavillenie, Ethan Cormont, Thibaut Collet, Kevin Mayer and Mathieu Collet, United States’ Jacob Wooten, and Netherlands’ Menno Vloom.
Obiena currently holds a season-best of 5.81 meters from his two titles last month at the Orlen Cup and Orlen Copernicus Cup both in Poland. His personal best is the Asian record of 5.93m he made in an event in Innsbruck, Austria last year.