By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Filipino pole vaulting sensation EJ Obiena continued his winning ways after recording his seventh-straight podium finish in just three weeks.
Fresh off a silver medal during the ISTAF Berlin meet in Germany, Obiena bounced back and reclaimed his throne after clinching the gold medal in the Golden Fly Series Liechtenstein leg.
The 26-year-old Filipino pride finished the Golden Fly Series with a 5.71-meter title-clinching height to grab his fifth gold medal.
It was a dominant outing for Obiena after establishing a 10-centimeter gap from the trailing silver medalist Olen Tray Oates of USA.
Meanwhile, Riccardo Klotz of Austria was far behind with a 5.51-m score which was enough to land him the bronze medal of the tournament.
Coming off a scintillating gold medal win over the world’s no. 1 pole vaulter Armand Duplantis in the Brussels Diamond League, Obiena is currently on a roll without missing a single podium finish in the past three weeks.
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.
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.
If ever Obiena continues to rack up the gold medals, he will have the chance to overtake Nilsen’s spot and can inch closer to Duplantis’ tally at the end of the year.
