EJ Obiena captures first gold medal win of the year

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Filipino pole vaulting sensation EJ Obiena earned his first gold medal finish of the year after dominating the Perche en Or tournament held in Roubaix, France last January 29, 2023.

Obiena completed his golden leap after going over the 5.82-meter mark to topple the best of the best pole vaulters from all over the world.

The Filipino superstar got the better of Yao Jie from China who settled for a silver medal campaign with a 5.75-meter score.

Completing the list of the podium finishers is Ethan Cormont, the tournament’s home bet who ended the championship round with a score of 5.65 meters.

Obiena pulled off a flawless run from start to finish and bounced back from his campaign at the Internationales Springer-Meeting held in Cottbus, Germany last January 26, 2023.

The current word no. 3 pole vaulter of the world ended his Germany stint with a silver medal finish and was only 0.06 meters shy of edging United States’ Sam Perkins for the gold.

Perkins completed his championship leap with a 5.82-meter tally while the young Filipino national athlete settled for 5.77-meters.

However, Obiena took extra precautions with his runs at France that helped him avoid more penalties on his way to a series of clean sequences.

Obiena outscored 12 other competitors and will be preparing for another circuit of pocket tournaments next month.