By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Filipino pole-vaulting sensation EJ Obiena isn’t done racking championship titles after ruling the recently concluded 2022 Italy Meet held in front of the Basilica di Santa Maria di Collemaggio in L’Aquila, Italy.
Fresh off a dominant gold medal finish during the 2022 Southeast Asian Games, Obiena showed he is still in top form after clearing the 5.85-meter height for the title.
“It’s not every day we get to jump in such beautiful places. 5.58m for the gold here in L’Aquila Italy. Such a beautiful venue jumping in front of Basilica di Santa Maria di Collemaggio,” Obiena posted on his Facebook account.
His golden leap was only 0.08 meters away from tying his newly set Asian pole-vaulting record which he did last September 2021.
For the Asian record, Obiena put his name in the history books after getting past the previous record of 5.92 meters held by Kazakhastan’s Igor Potapovich in 1998 and did it at the 2021 Golden Roof Challenge in Innsbruck, Austria.
Obiena easily jumped past the 5.85-meter height and was coming off a 5.46-meter finish at Hanoi, Vietnam during the SEA Games.
The pole-vaulting superstar also made history during the biennial sports meet after resetting his previous SEA Games record of 5.45-meters.
Obiena also tried to top his 5.93-meter Asian record in Vietnam but failed to get the record and was given three tries during his run.
Several months ago, he broke the previous Philippine record of 5.87 meters during the Paris Diamond League when he cleared the 5.91-meter mark.
