By REYNALD MAGALLON
Two-time Olympian EJ Obiena just reminded everyone he is Asia’s undisputed king of pole vault after topping the continental event Saturday night, May 31.
Showing nerves of steel in the face of Huang Bokai’s uprising, Obiena won in the jump-off with a clearance of 5.77 meters for his third straight gold in the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea.
Both the FIlipino and Chinese aces hurdled 5.72 meters with relative ease before failing in all of their three attempts at 5.82m.
Lowering the bar at 5.77m in the jump-off, Obiena, who holds the Asian record at 6 meters, mightily sprung with confidence in his first try to rule the contest and hand Bokai the silver medal.
Obiena earlier cleared 5.52m before he skipped the 5.62m and 5.57m.
Thailand’s Patsapong Amsamarng settled for the bronze with 5.67m.
Obiena’s golden triumph provided the Philippine team a reason to smile at the end of the week-long continental meet, as it avoided a medal-less campaign and finished at the 10th spot in the overall medal tally.
Still, this year’s finish pales in comparison to the team’s performance from two years ago when the Philippines finished with two golds.
Robyn Brown actually had the chance to defend her 400m hurdles title although she only finished fifth after a season-best time of 56.98sec.
Kristina Knott and Bernalyn Bejoy, likewise, failed to reach the podium with the former finishing sixth with a 23.82 sec time in the 200m race while the latter ended up seventh in the 800m race with a 2:07.53 time
