UNDER wet conditions due to a drizzly Tuesday evening, Ernest John “EJ” Obiena still claimed his second straight men’s pole vault title in the 20th Asian Games in Japan.
The Filipino pole vault ace did it in a record-setting fashion at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium.
Obiena secured the gold medal after Chinese Yao Jie and Li Chenyang struck out at 5.75 m which the Philippine bet cleared in just one try.
The 30-year-old decided to post a new meet record and successfully did so with a 5.91-meter (m) clearance, surpassing the 5.90-m height he aced in the previous edition in Hangzhou, China, back in 2023.
Obiena thus gave the Philippines its third overall gold in the ongoing meet following gymnast Carlos Yulo’s floor exercise and vault titles.
“A gold and a GR (games record) here in Nagoya,” wrote Obiena in his social media pages on Wednesday morning.
“As athletes, we live in these moments. Moments that make us overthink, stress us, adrenaline pumping pressure on our backs and sometimes ... just sometimes pure joy. I take these moments as a blessing. This is what keeps me going back for more.”
Obiena expressed gratitude to his team as well as the Filipinos for supporting him.
“To all of the 110 million Filipinos, maraming salamat po (thank you so much) for making these moments possible. Competing is one thing, but competing for something greater, for the Philippines, is a privilege that I do not take lightly. For the country.”
Obiena surpassed the 5.90-m height thrice this season, which he ended with this Asiad gold.
Bouncing back from a lackluster 2025, the 6-foot-2 pole vaulter from Tondo collected 10 golds this year as he continued his resurgence.
“What I felt today, it’s been a while, and to be honest I missed it,” Obiena said to POC Media.
“With that, I think it’s bit of a reborn that I see the sport in a much different perspective than it was, a little bit of fun and reality”
