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EJ Obiena shares gold with reigning Olympic champion in German tourney

Sports

EJ Obiena shares gold with reigning Olympic champion in German tourney

By Kristel Satumbaga-Villar

Screen grab from tournament livestream at sportschau.de

Pole vaulter EJ Obiena bolstered his Tokyo Olympics preparations on Sunday after sharing the gold medal with reigning Olympic champion Thiago Braz of Brazil in the True Athletes Classics in Leverkusen, Germany.

Obiena and Braz both cleared 5.80 meters on their second attempts to rule the 11-player field composed mostly of Olympic qualifiers.

They both tried 5.90m but failed.

Germany’s Bo Kanda Lita Baehre settled for bronze with 5.80m on his third attempt while Olympic-bound Oleg Zernikel of Germany came in fourth with 5.65m.

Melker Svard Jakobsson of Sweden finished fifth, while Tokyo-bound athletes Sondre Guttormsen of Norway and Toben Bleck of Germany finished sixth and seventh, respectively.

Obiena, who holds the national outdoor record of 5.85m he posted in a German tilt early this month, is keeping himself busy with less than 30 days left before the Olympics.

He is expected to compete in three more outdoor meets in this final stretch of his preparations.

Related Tags

Thiago Braz pole vault true athletes classics EJ Obiena Tokyo Olympics

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