By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Filipino pole vaulting sensation EJ Obiena’s unstoppable streak of jaw-dropping performances doesn’t end after taking his second gold medal in a row at the 2022 Gala dei Castelli in Switzerland.
Fresh off a gold medal during the Golden Fly Series Liechtenstein leg, Obiena extended his impressive record of consecutive podium finishes to eight in just three weeks.
Obiena tallied a final championship-clinching score of 5.81-meters and also made history after resetting the record in Gala dei Castelli.
It was a heated battle between Obiena and the world no. 2 ranked pole vaulter Christopher Nilsen of USA after sharing the lead when both athletes equally passed the 5.61-m height.
Nilsen completed the next height at 5.71-m but failed to reach the 5.81-m height that Obiena successfully took care of.
Obiena completed his golden leap after two tries while the American Nilsen burnt all his three available tries at the 5.81-m mark.
With the win, Obiena is yet to miss a podium finish in the past three weeks and increased his bid of taking over Nilsen’s spot at the end of the year.
Currently, Obiena is the world’s no. 3 ranked pole vaulter with 1,414 points next to Christopher Nilsen of USA and Duplantis of Sweden.
Obiena put up tremendous performances during his routines in Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium and is still looking for more medals to end his season’s second half with a bang.
