UST’s EJ Obiena reigned supreme in the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships pole vault event in record-breaking fashion in Doha, Qatar Sunday.
Obiena registered 5.71 meters in his first attempt to set a new Asian Championships record, surpassing Kazakh Grigoriy Yerogov’s 5.70-meter landmark in 1993.
Chinese pole vaulters Zhang Wei and Huang Bokai settled for second and third place, respectively, both finishing 5.66 meters.
“This one is sweet because I have not yet won in this competition and after my injury I didn’t even think that it is possible and last year was very devastating for me (but I’m still thankful),” Obiena told the Varsitarian in an online interview.
He also broke his previous Philippine record of 5.61 meters set in Germany in 2017.
With the win, the 23-year-old earned a spot in the International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships to be held in September this year at the same venue.
