Philippine’s Ernest John Obiena reacts during the men’s pole vault event during the ISTAF Berlin Internationales Stadionfest annual track and fields athletics meeting at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin on September 4, 2022. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines—EJ Obiena capped his season with a second consecutive first-place finish in Gala dei Castelli on Monday (Manila time) at Bellinzona Municipal Stadium in Switzerland.
The Filipino pole vaulter set a new tournament record of 5.81 meters, beating world No. 2 Christopher Nilsen of the United States, who tallied 5.71m.
A day before his last tournament, Obiena also reached 5.81 meters to rule the Golden Fly Series in Liechtenstein.
“Capped this season with back-to-back wins and a Meeting Record in (Switzerland Gala dei Castelli) yesterday. Now is the time to rest and regroup for next year. Mandatory post-season post coming soon,” posted Obiena on social media.
After a successful season, the 26-year-old Obiena arrived in Manila on Thursday.
“Maraming salamat po sa lahat ng sumubaybay sa aking mga laban nitong mga nakaraang linggo. Lalo na po sa mga kababayang pumunta at nanood sa aking laro. Maraming salamat po.”
(I wanna thank all my supporters who watched and supported me for the past weeks. Especially my fellow countrymen who went to the venue and watched my tournaments. Thank you.)
Obiena, the World No. 3 pole vaulter, finished first place in six of the eight events he joined including a big win over world champion and Top 1 Armand Duplantis in the Memorial Van Damme.