By ADRIAN STEWART CO
MANILA – Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena ended his European schedule with a golden finish in the Golden Fly event on Sunday night (Monday in the Philippines) in Schaan, Liechtenstein.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics men’s pole vault campaigner took home the gold medal after tallying 5.71 meters to make it 6-of-6 podium finishes in his European campaign.
Settling for silver medal was Olen Tray Oates of United States with 5.61 meters, while Riccardo Klotz of Austria ended with bronze medal with his 5.51 meter jump.
The gold medal finish served as a bounce back for Obiena after his bridesmaid finish in the Das Internationale Stadionfest Berlin (ISTAF) 2022 tournament in Berlin, Germany last week.
Obiena fell short of his fourth consecutive gold medal triumph in the event after finishing with 5.81-meter performance, behind Menno Vloom of Netherland’s 5.88 meters jump.
Overall, this was Obiena ‘s seventh consecutive podium finish in less than a month after capturing four golds, a silver and a bronze in his previous tournaments.
Obiena first captured a gold medal in the Stabhochsprung Meeting in Jockgrim in Aug. 23 before settling for a bronze medal finish when he lost to Duplantis in the Athletissima event in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Last week, the 26-year-old Obiena took home three consecutive gold medals in the True Athletes Classics in Leverkusen and St. Wendel City Jump, both in Germany and in Brussels Diamond League in Belgium, where he defeated Armand Duplandis of Sweden.
“Blessed to be here. This is the penultimate competition this season,” said Obiena, a former University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers men’s pole vault standout.
Obiena, who was named the Philippines Sportswriters Association’s Athlete of the Month for August, will have a break after this event but will continue his preparation after being reinstated to the Philippine team recently./PN
