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Obiena regains form, captures ISTAF Berlin gold medal

Sports

Obiena regains form, captures ISTAF Berlin gold medal

By Kristel Satumbaga-Villar

At A Glance

EJ Obiena regained his old form by capturing the men's pole vault gold medal in the ISTAF Berlin at the Olympiastadion in Germany on Sunday, Sept. 3.

EJ Obiena regained his old form by capturing the men’s pole vault gold medal in the ISTAF Berlin at the Olympiastadion in Germany on Sunday, Sept. 3.

ej obiena — EJ Obiena is back on the winning track after winning the ISTAF Berlin tournament. (File Photo/AFP)

Still nursing his wounds from a last-place finish in the Zurich leg of the Wanda Diamond League a few days ago, the 27-year-old Olympian redeemed himself by clearing 5.92 meters for the victory.

Obiena actually encountered stiff challenge from Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen and American KC Lightfoot with three of them attempting the 5.92m height, but the Filipino bet managed to clear it on his third try.

Guttormsen and Lightfoot failed on their attempts and settled for the runner-up honors. Both athletes posted identical 5.82m marks, but the Norwegian claimed the silver via countback.

“It was a good day… for the gold medal. Happy for today,” Obiena wrote on his social media.

Last year, Obiena finished second in the said outdoor event, and fourth in 2021.

The world No. 3 pole vaulter was coming off a historic silver-medal finish in the world championships in Budapest, Hungary with an impressive 6.00m, but coming up short in Zurich.

Meanwhile, world championship bronze medalist Chris Nilsen of the United States finished fourth via countback with 5.72m followed by Turkey’s Ersu Sasma and Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis with identical 5.72m, Netherlands’ Menno Vloon, Italy’s Claudio Stecchi and American Sam Kendricks with 5.52m, and hometown bets Oleg Zernikel and Gillian Ladwig with 5.32m.

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