WORLD No. 3 Ernest John “EJ” Obiena gets another shot at breaking 6.0 meters—and most potentially another gold medal—in the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels, Belgium, on Friday.
Obiena on Thursday bagged his third men’s pole vault gold medal in nine days of his European outdoor sortie, the most recent of which was at the St. Wendel City Jump in Germany on Thursday where he cleared 5.86 meters.
Menno Vloon of the Netherlands settled for the silver medal via countback with 5.81 meters while world under-20 champion Anthony Ammirati of France settled for bronze.
“EJ is in good spirits but very tired,” Obiena’s confidante Jim Lafferty told BusinessMirror on Friday. “He competes every two to three days and has to travel with poles, but what is happening now is really unprecedented.”
“It’s 19 days, seven competitions, five countries and this has never been done before,” Lafferty added.
The 26-year-old Obiena won gold at the True Athletes Classics 2022 with a jump of 5.81 meters at the Manforter Stadio in Leverkusen and the Stabhochsprung meeting in Jockgrim both in Germany. He clinched bronze at the Athletissima meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, the other Friday.
On top of his European events medals, Obiena snatched bronze at the world championships in Eugene, Oregon, in July, a historic first medal for the Philippines in the prestigious competition.
After Belgium, Obiena return to Germany for the ISTAF Berlin on September 4 before closing out the outdoor season on September 11 at the Golden Fly in Shaan, Liechtenstein.
Image credits: AP