Exhausted Obiena battles to silver in Germany meet

Ernest John Obiena in action

BATTLING through exhaustion, Filipino pole vault standout Ernest John “EJ” Obiena salvaged a silver medal in the 4th Domspringen Wesel Internationales Stabhochsprung meeting in Germany early Wednesday morning (Philippine time).

Obiena cleared 5.75 meters on his second attempt to mark a podium finish on his sixth event in the past two weeks.

The two-time Olympian tried to go for the win by setting the bar at 5.85m but failed in three attempts as he settled for the runner-up finish behind France’s Robin Emig, who posted 5.80m.

“Rough, rough day and tiredness eventually caught up after six competitions in the last 14 days. Took too many mistakes at the earlier bars and paid the price,” Obiena wrote on social media.

USA’s Cole Walsh picked up the bronze with a 5.70m clearance and a countback edge over France’s Ethan Cormont.

Despite falling short of capturing his 10th gold medal, the Asian record holder still displayed a commendable effort following a grueling stretch of competitions.

Obiena soared to a season-best 5.91m to rule the Golden Sand 2026 in Poland last August 17 before seeing action in three star-studded legs of the Wanda Diamond League.

The 30-year-old athlete booked his ticket to the World Athletics Championships 2027 after leaping past 5.90m in the Diamond League Zurich event where he ended up fifth, his best finish in the three legs.

The pride of Manila then returned to his winning ways after topping the ISTAF Berlin 2026 with a 5.83m jump last Monday.

Obiena has been hard at work in the European circuit since the outdoor season started last June as the reigning Asian Games champion continues to gear up for his title defense in the Nagoya edition in Japan starting on September 19. — Jeremiah Sevilla