Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 4) — Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena bagged the gold medal at the ISTAF Berlin on Sunday (Germany time) to bounce back from a last-place finish in the Zurich leg of the Wanda Diamond League last week.
At the Olympiastadion, Obiena bested Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen and USA’s KC Lightfoot by clearing 5.92m on his third attempt.
Guttormsen settled for second place on countback after clearing 5.82m.
Lightfoot, who also cleared 5.82m, placed third as he had one more foul compared to the Norwegian throughout the competition.
The 27-year-old Obiena failed in his tries to clear 6.01m and reset his personal best of 6.0m.
“It was a good day…5.92m for the [gold],” Obiena wrote on his Facebook post. “Finally got this outdoor trophy after so many years of coming up short.”
He settled for silver medal in the 2022 edition of the event and fourth in 2021.
Obiena also replicated a 6-meter clearance to bag the silver medal at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Aug. 27 (Manila time).
