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EJ Obiena still SEA Games' pole vault king with three-peat, resets SEAG record
EJ Obiena is still the king of pole vault in Southeast Asia.
Battling the rain in Cambodia, the Filipino Olympian and pole vaulter on Monday won his third Southeast Asian Games gold medal after dominating the men's event in the 32nd edition of the biennial meet at the Morodok Techo National Stadium.
Obiena cleared the 5.65-meter mark to win the gold medal.
In his first bar, Obiena cleared 5.20 meters in two attempts. However, the bar fell in his first attempt, despite Obiena protesting that he did not touch it.
Here’s EJ Obiena’s first attempt at the 5.20m. Obiena is protesting that he didn’t touch the bar @gmasportsph pic.twitter.com/ROORWJbq9u
— Bea Micaller (@beamicallerrr) May 8, 2023
The rain then poured in the stadium, and Obiena cleared the 5.40m mark before the organizers halted the event due to the inclement weather.
Organizers decided to momentarily stop the games due to heavy downpour @gmasportsph #SEAGames2023 pic.twitter.com/QryG5rhHuH
— Bea Micaller (@beamicallerrr) May 8, 2023
As the action resumed in the stadium, Obiena cleared 5.55 meters to reset the previous SEA Games record he also got at 5.46 meters in 2021.
He then cleared past 5.55 and 5.65 meters, which assured him of the new record and the gold medal.
Obiena, also Asia's record holder at 5.94 meters, won the gold in 2019 and 2021.
“This is tough."
— Bea Micaller (@beamicallerrr) May 8, 2023
EJ Obiena shares his thoughts after he braved the strong rains and wind to rule the #SEAGames2023 men’s pole vault event and bag his third straight crown @gmasportsph @gmanews pic.twitter.com/z31CzfSXLS
Earlier, fellow Filipino Elijah Cole bowed out of the competition after missing 4.90 meters.
Elijah Cole bows out of contention after three failed attempts at the 4.90m height @gmasportsph pic.twitter.com/81R0qadGzO
— Bea Micaller (@beamicallerrr) May 8, 2023
Kristina Knott, on the other hand, failed to reclaim the gold medal in the women's 200m run as she finished fourth with 23.79 seconds.
Here’s Knott’s 200m run. Knott won the gold in the same event in 2019 before an injury prevented her from joining in Vietnam Games last year @gmasportsph #SEAGames2023 pic.twitter.com/lYQMd8pKTR
— Bea Micaller (@beamicallerrr) May 8, 2023
Knott won the gold in 2019 in Clark before she missed the Hanoi Games due to an injury.
—Bea Micaller/Justin Kenneth Carandang/JMB, GMA Integrated News
