Ernest John Obiena ruled the Piazza International Pole Vault Meeting last Saturday in Prato dela Valle, Italy.
The 23-year-old Obiena cleared 5.5 meters on one of his attempts to claim his second gold medal since winning the Asian Championship last April.
Last April, Obiena cleared 5.71 meters to win the gold medal to beat two Chinese foes on Easter Sunday in the 23rd Asian Athletics Championship in Doha, Qatar at the Khalifa stadium.
In doing so Obiena set a new course record and a new Philippine record as well, in getting past the last attempts of Chinese bets Zhang Wei and Huang Bokai.
This time, there was an opportunity to set another Philippine record.
But, Obiena was not able to clear 5.75 meters on all his three attempts.
In taking the gold medal, Obiena beat a six-man field, which included Alione Sene of France and Meditteranean under-23 Championship bronze medalist Allesandro Sinno of Italy.
Sena and Sinno settled for the silver and bronze medals with identical performances of 5.30 meters.
For now, Obiena is preparing to join IAAF-certified Diamond League events and earn an Olympic berth.
At the moment, observers also noted that Obiena’s efforts are now way beyond the gold medal finish of Thailand’s Porranot Purahong, who set a new Southeast Games record of 5.35 meters back in 2017.
Obiena was sidelined from the 2017 SEA Games due to injury, a day before the games, he was nursed back to good health right before the 2018 Asian Games.
