Filipino pole vault star Ernest John Obiena stayed consistent as he set a new competition mark to claim the gold medal in the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok, Thailand on Sunday.
The 27-year-old Obiena, who is now preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics, smashed his own four-year-old record when he cleared 5.91 meters on his second attempt.
He surpassed the 5.71 meters he set back in 2019 in Doha, Qatar.
Obiena, who is already reserved of a berth in the Paris games, promised to be consistent by going above 5.80 meters.
And this is through techniques that his Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov has been teaching him.
“I need to be consistent with my 20-steps. It’s a work in progress,” said Obiena.
The Tondo, Manila-born Obiena has already made it to the Olympics after bagging the silver in the Bauhaus Galan leg of the Wanda Diamond League 2023 last July 3 in Stockholm, Sweden, when
he hit the 5.82-meter qualifying mark on his second attempt.
Asim Alhizam Hussain of Saudi Arabia claimed the silver medal in the Asian competition at 5.56 meters, while Bokai
Huang of China earned the bronze medal, following a tie with Japanese Tomai Karasawa at 5.51 meters.
It was the Philippines’ second gold medal in the tournament, after Fil-American Lauren Robyn Brown topped the the women’s 400m hurdles on Saturday.
Brown finished with a 57.50-second performance.
Sarah Dequinan scored a total of 5224 points to claim fifth place overall in women’s heptathlon, finishing her final event in the long jump at 5.82 meters for third place.
Ekaterina Voronina of Uzbekistan claimed the gold with 6098 points, while India’s Swapna Barman tallied 5840 for the silver, and Yuki Yamasaki of Japan had 5696 points for the bronze.