Thomasian pole vaulter EJ Obiena has leaped to a new national record.
Obiena, just a week after extending his self-set Philippine indoor record to 5.80 meters, cleared a 5.86-meter jump in the pole vault event of the Orlen Indoor Cup 2021 at the Atlas Arena in Poland on Feb. 13 (PH time).
Obiena’s 5.86-meter vault is the highest cleared height by an Asian athlete since 2005.
However, Obiena accomplished the feat in three attempts, landing him in second place. Sam Kendricks of the US cleared 5.86 meters in one attempt to snag gold.
Brazil’s Thiago Braz clinched bronze with a 5.80-meter clearance.
Obiena’s record run started at the Karlsruhe World Indoor Tour Meeting last Jan. 30 where he cleared 5.62 meters.
A week after, on Feb. 6, he vaulted 5.80 meters to clinch gold in the Internationales Stadionfest Indoor athletics meet.
The former UST trackster also competed in the star-studded Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais in Lievin, France on Feb. 10, where he finished fifth among a pool of world champions.
Obiena is one of four Filipinos to represent the country in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Mark Ernest V. Villeza
