MANILA — Ernest John Obiena battled through fatigue from a punishing stretch of six competitions in 14 days to secure a silver medal at the Domspringen Wesel Internationales Stabhochsprungmeeting in Wesel, Germany on Wednesday.
The Filipino pole vault star cleared 5.75 meters to finish runner-up behind France’s Robin Emig, who captured the gold medal with a 5.80m clearance.
Obiena, a two-time Olympian and former University of Santo Tomas standout, entered the competition at 5.75m after passing on 5.60m, 5.65m and 5.70m.
He needed two attempts to clear 5.75m before raising the bar to 5.85m in a bid to overtake Emig, but the Filipino ace failed to negotiate the height.
American Cole Walsh claimed the bronze medal on countback after clearing 5.70m. France’s Ethan Cormont also reached 5.70m but needed three attempts.
The runner-up finish capped a grueling two-week stretch for Obiena, who competed in six meets over 14 days and acknowledged that the demanding schedule had finally taken its toll.
“Rough, rough day and tiredness,” Obiena said in a social media post. “Eventually caught up after 6 competitions this last 14 days. Took too many mistakes at the earlier bars and paid the price.”
Despite the packed schedule, Obiena came away with two victories, ruling the Golden Sand meet in Poland and the ISTAF Berlin competition in Germany.
More importantly, Obiena secured his qualification for the 2027 World Championships after clearing 5.90m and finishing fifth at the Zurich Diamond League meet on Aug. 27.
The Germany silver added another podium finish to Obiena’s late-season campaign as he continues to test himself against some of the world’s top pole vaulters./PN
