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LOOK: EJ Obiena celebrates first Asian Indoor gold
Filipino Olympian and pole vaulter EJ Obiena won his first-ever gold medal at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships on Saturday in Tianjin, China.
The world-class pole vaulter cleared 5.70 meters to top the event and secure his maiden Asian Indoor title.
“Your boy is finally an Asian Indoor Champ,” Obiena wrote in the caption of his celebratory post.
He also had an Instagram story that read, “Set complete,” accompanied by a check mark emoji.
Obiena is also a three-time Asian Athletics Championships gold medalist, an Asian Games champion, and a four-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, further cementing his dominance in Asian pole vault.
He currently holds the Asian record in both indoor (5.93 meters) and outdoor (6.00 meters) pole vault.
Philippine Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China Jaime A. FlorCruz also congratulated Obiena for his achievement and thanked the other Filipino athletes who represented the country in the continental meet.
“We are always proud of them,” FlorCruz said in a statement.
Aside from Obiena, three other Filipinos competed in the Asian Indoor Games. Olympian John Cabang Tolentino finished fifth in the 60-meter hurdles, while Leonard Gorospe placed sixth in the high jump. Hussein Loraña posted the third-fastest overall time in the 800-meter elimination round, but only the top two athletes per heat advanced to the finals.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
