OLYMPIC pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena is enjoying a stellar 2026 season, capturing his sixth gold medal this year after dominating the Halberstadter Hohenflug in Germany on Saturday (Manila time).
Obiena cleared 5.76 meters (m) to snare the gold while Seifeldin Abdelsalam of Qatar (5.66 m) and Cole Walsh of the United States (5.56 m) settled for silver and bronze, respectively.
This is Obiena’s sixth title from the indoor and outdoor tournaments.
The 30-year-old Filipino came from an impressive silver medal finish at Meeting Madrid in Spain, where he cleared his season-best 5.85 m.
Obiena was the world No.3 pole vaulter in 2022 when he posted his personal best jump of 6.0 m.
The 2025 season was tough for the pole vaulter as was diagnosed with a recurring spine fracture and suffered major recovery blunders. He also acknowledged that the first half of 2025 was his “worst performance” but was glad to bag a historic fourth gold medal in the 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand.
This year, Obiena started strong as he opened the 2026 indoor season with a gold medal at the International Springer-Meeting Cottbus in Germany, clearing 5.77 m last Jan. 28. He shared the gold with Menno Vloon of the Netherlands.
He also topped the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Tianjin, China, on Feb. 7 for his first Asian Indoor title with a 5.70-m performance. He followed this with another gold medal jump at ISTAF Indoor Berlin in Germany on March 6 when he cleared 5.78 m.
In the outdoor season, he first copped the gold at the Czesław Cybulski Memorial in Poland at 5.72 m on June 29.
On July 1, he made a new stadium record at the Raiffeisen Austrian Open in Austria, winning gold at 5.75 m.
