By ADRIAN STEWART CO
MANILA – Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena added another gold medal to his collection after ruling the St. Wendel City Jump on Wednesday night (Thursday in the Philippines) in Sankt Wendel, Germany.
It was the third golden performance and fourth podium finish of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics campaigner and World No. 3 pole vaulter in the last nine days.
The 6-foot-2 Obiena snagged the competition’s gold medal after clearing the event at 5.86 meters, which also turned out to be the new record in the St. Wendel City Jump.
Placing behind Obiena were fellow Tokyo Olympian Menno Vloon of the Netherlands and Anthony Ammirati of France, which both registered 5.81 meters.
However, it was Vroom who was awarded with the silver medal after edging Ammirati via countback. The latter completed the tournament’s podium finishers.
Before his gold medal feat on Wednesday evening, the former University of Santo Tomas standout surged ahead of everybody in the Stabhoch Spring Meeting in Jockgrim on Aug. 23.
Obiena then settled for a bronze medal ending in the Athletissima event in Lausanne, Switzerland last week before ruling the True Athletes Classics in Leverkusen earlier this week.
“Third attempt on opening height made this competition even more breathtaking. As always the competition atmosphere was amazing and thank you for having me,” Obiena wrote on his Facebook page.
Obiena will next compete in the Memorial van Damme in Brussels, Belgium on Friday, Sept. 2 followed by the ISTAF 2022 in Berlin, Germany on Sunday, Sept. 4.
Obiena will then cap off his busy schedule with the Golden Fly event in Schaan, Liechtenstein on Sept. 11./PN
