UST POLE vaulter EJ Obiena’s road to the 2024 Paris Olympics began with a gold medal in the Memorial Josip Gašparac World Athletics Indoor Tour in Osijek, Croatia, on Wednesday, Feb. 21. (Philippine time)
Obiena secured the gold by clearing 5.72 meters on his second attempt. He then skipped 5.78 meters and surpassed 5.83 meters on his first try, establishing a new meet record.
He erased the previous record of 5.72 meters that Poland’s Piotr Lisek and Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis set in 2023.
Portugal’s Pedro Buaró, who cleared 5.72 meters on his third attempt, tried to match Obiena’s 5.83-meter clearance but exhausted all three attempts for the silver finish. United States’ Olen Oates settled for bronze.
Obiena attempted to go further and vault 5.93 meters but failed in all three attempts.
He skipped the 5.11-, 5.21-, 5.32-, and 5.41-meter bars before cruising past 5.51 meters.
Obiena will next compete in the ISTAF Indoor Berlin World Athletics Indoor Tour in Berlin, Germany, on Feb. 23.
