This is his sixth try in the said tournament where he swept both USA’s vaulter, Sam Kendricks, and Vietnam’s vaulter, Thiago Braz with a discrepancy of .10 meters in height. 

“Beating them is cool and all but having them congratulate me is something more,” Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena told CNN Philippines of his gold-medal finish in Ostrava.

Obiena is also the first Filipino athlete to qualify in the Tokyo Olympics next year, setting his personal best and Philippine record of 5.81m where he surpassed the 5.80-meter standard.

Also, the 24-year old Tondo-born talent won the bronze medal after clearing 5.70 meters in the Diamond League last month. 

According to sources, he is set for another heavy competition in Poznan Poland Competitions on the 11th of  September.

Even after Obiena’s injury scare back in 2017 before his SEA games, this did not stop him from pursuing his dreams.

He came back after 6 months of hiatus and trained under the supervision of Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov that led him to where he is today

He is currently ranked 10th in the world in pole-vaulting.