EJ Obiena nabs gold medal in Sweden stint

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

EJ Obiena and his camp are getting the results that they want with the Tokyo Olympics shaping up in just one month.

As part of his training after almost a year of intensive camp, Obiena won another gold medal after impressing in the Folksam Grand Prix held in Sweden.

Obiena faced tough challenges on his road in taking that gold medal including the 2016 Rio Olympic gold medalist Thiago Braz.

Braz managed to place behind Obiena in the silver medal and was in awe of the Filipino’s 5.70- meters title-clinching score.

The former Rio Olympic champion scored 5.65-meters while third-placer Pal Haugen Lillefosse scored 5.60-meters.

Before his recent success in Sweden, Obiena already made some noise in the international pole-vaulting scene after breaking his PH record thrice.

As part of his campaign for a Tokyo Olympics gold, Obiena is still in Formia, Italy together with his head coach Vitaly Petrov.

The 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist is also the first from the Philippines to punch a ticket to the prestigious event in Tokyo and vows to bring glory to the country in July.