Filipino Olympic pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena finally broke through in the young 2026 season, clinching his first victory as he looks to rebound from a frustrating 2025 campaign that saw his world ranking slide from No. 2 before the Paris Olympics to No. 11 at present.
Obiena shared top honors with Dutch standout Menno Vloon at the International Springer-Meeting on Thursday (Manila time) at the Lausitz Arena in Cottbus, Germany, with both athletes clearing 5.77 meters.
“First win of the season with a new season’s best of 5.77m. Brick by brick, we build. Thank you @springermeeting_cottbus and the amazing crowd for making this evening one to remember,” Obiena wrote on his Instagram account.
A countback was initially set to determine the winner, but meet officials declared a tie after Obiena and Vloon both failed at 5.84m with the same number of attempts—marking the first time in the meet’s history that two athletes shared the gold medal.
The 5.77m clearance also served as Obiena’s season-best, a significant step forward after a string of unsuccessful competitions last year. It was his best jump since clearing 5.70 meters at the Orlen Copernicus Cup in Poland in February 2025.
American veteran Sam Kendricks also cleared 5.77 meters, but needed three attempts, settling for the bronze medal.
Just days earlier, the 30-year-old Obiena captured a bronze medal at the 6th ISTAF Indoor meet in Düsseldorf, where he cleared 5.65 meters to finish behind Vloon, who won gold at 5.75m.
Kendricks took silver at 5.70m, while Germany’s Torben Blech placed fourth at 5.55m.
