EJ Obiena wins gold at Taby Stavhoppsgala. –WILMA MURTO/EJ OBIENA FACEBOOK
MANILA, Philippines—EJ Obiena hardly missed a beat in his return to competition.
Back in full strength after testing positive for COVID-19, Obiena claimed his latest pole vault gold medal at the Taby Stavhoppsgala in Sweden.
Obiena cleared 5.92 to win the event, nearly matching the Asian record he set in September of last year.
Thiago Braz of Brazil got the silver medal by clearing 5.82 while Simen Guttormsen placed third after leaping 5.72.
Obiena came up .01 short of obliterating his own personal best of 5.93, the current Asian standard in men’s pole vault that he established in a meet in Austria back in September 2021.
The Filipino pole vault ace attempted to shatter the record by setting the bar at 6.01m, but failed in all three attempts.
The 26-year-old Tokyo Olympian missed two tournaments after contracting COVID-19.
Before getting COVID-19, Obiena also won gold in the European City of Sports in L’Aquila, Italy with a 5.85m clearance.
Obiena won’t have much time to celebrate his latest feat as he is set to participate in the BAUHAUS-galan in Stockholm, Sweden on Thursday.