BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
MANILA – Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena took home another gold medal by ruling the True Athletes Classic on Sunday night (Monday in the Philippines) at the Manforter Stadio in Leverkusen, Germany.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics campaigner nabbed the men’s pole vault event gold medal after successfully clearing the bar at 5.81 meters on his second attempt.
Rutgar Koppelaar of the Netherlands and Kurtis Marschall also cleared the 5.81 meters but settled for silver and bronze medal, respectively, because of count back.
German Bo Kanda Lita Baehre cleared 5.73m for fourth place while Sondre Guttormsen of Norway cleared the same height but ended at fifth due to countback.
Norweigian pole vaulter Simen Guttormsen and German pole vaulter Oleg Zernikel both failed to surpass the starting height of 5.43 meters while another German athlete in Torben Blech did not start.
“I am very happy to bring home the gold against a great field. But on the other hand I am frustrated by missing 5.95m again,” Obiena wrote on his Facebook page.
“We have boiled it down to some technical adaptations, which at these heights make the difference between a miss or a make. Like anything in life, this is all about continual improvement,” he added.
This was the former University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers pole vaulter’s third consecutive podium finish in three tournaments in less than a week.
Obiena first captured a gold medal in the 26th Stabhochsprung-Meeting in Jockgrim, Germany earlier last week followed by a third place finish at the Athletissima Lausanne Diamond League last Friday.
Obiena will return to action later this week as he competes in the Memorial Van Damme on Sept. 2 at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium./PN
