EJ Obiena bounces back in return from COVID-19 with gold medal finish in Sweden

EJ Obiena made sure to make a statement in his return after contracting COVID-19, flaunting a season-best output to claim the top honors in Taby Stavhoppsgala in Sweden on Wednesday (Philippine time).

The Filipino pole vault ace cleared 5.92 meters to win the gold in the tournament.

Obiena skipped both 5.32m and 5.42m before soaring past 5.52 in one attempt. He again skipped 5.62 but took two tries to register 5.72m and 5.82m. It took the 26-year-old athlete another two jumps to clear 5.92m and rule the tourney.

He went on trying to shatter his Asian record of 5.93m but he failed in three attempts at 6.01m.

Thiago Braz of Brazil settled for silver after registering 5.82m while Simen Guttormsen of Norway finished with bronze with his 572m-performance.

—JMB, GMA News