MANILA – Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena got back on track as he captured a gold medal in the Internationales Stadionfest (ISTAF) on Sunday night (Monday in the Philippines) at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany.
Obiena, the first Filipino athlete to earn a qualification in the 2024 Paris Olympics, cleared the 5.92 meter mark in his third attempt to take home the men’s pole vault gold.
The former University of Santo Tomas athletics standout attempted to breach his personal record when he tried the 6.01 meter mark but was unsuccessful.
Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen settled for silver medal finish, while American KC Lightfoot got the bronze medal as both pole vaulters failed to make it past the 5.82 meters.
“Finally got this outdoor trophy after so many years of coming up short,” Obiena wrote on his Facebook page. “Happy for today and we go back at it in three days.”
It was a favorable performance for the 6-foot-3 Obiena after finishing at 10th and last place in the latest leg of the Diamond League last Thursday in Zurich.
Prior to his debacle in Zurich, Obiena repeated his personal best of 6.0 meters during his silver medal finish at the world athletics championships in Budapest two weeks ago.
Obiena’s gold medal feat in Germany gave Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham Tolentino hope that the Filipino pole vaulter will have a podium finish in the Paris Summer Games.
“He’s making sure he’ll get there,” said Tolentino. “It’s not only skills and physicality that’s gone elite on EJ, but his focus and mental approach to his sport.”
According to Tolentino, only the world’s record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden is standing in the way of the world No. 2 ranked pole vaulter Obiena.
“It’s a year to go before Paris, one full year for EJ to get better and better,” said Tolentino. “He’ll have plenty of time to focus on setting the bar higher, and qualifying for Paris won’t be one of his challenges anymore, he’s in.”/PN
