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CELEBRATE. The Philippines' EJ Obiena in action during the men's pole vault competition in the 19th Asian Games.
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EJ Obiena plans to take a break after seeing action in 16 meets throughout the outdoor season, wrapping it up with a record-breaking performance in the Asian Games
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MANILA, Philippines – EJ Obiena finally gets to catch his breath after capping a superb outdoor season with his first Asian Games crown.
Obiena captured the Philippines’ first gold medal in the 19th edition of the continental showpiece in Hangzhou, China, as he reigned in the men’s pole vault in record-breaking fashion on Saturday, September 30.
It was the Philippines’ first medal in Asian Games athletics since Elma Muros bagged bronze in the women’s long jump in 1994 and first gold since the late Lydia de Vega ruled the women’s 100m in 1986.
Although the Paris Games next year looms, the Olympics is far from Obiena’s mind – at least for now.
“Oh I’m resting,” said Obiena, who took part in 16 meets throughout the outdoor season that started in May, winning medals in 15 of them.
“I’m not thinking about it now.”
Obiena started the season by capturing a third straight gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia in May.
He cleared six meters in the Bergen Jump Challenge in Norway in June, retained his title in the Asian Athletics Championships in Thailand in July, and copped silver in the World Athletics Championships in Hungary in August.
The last five months also saw Obiena qualify for the Olympics and improve to a career-high second in the world rankings, just behind world record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden.
Obiena, though, was not done.
Carrying the hopes of a country searching for its first mint in Hangzhou, Obiena delivered and then some as he established a new Asian Games record with a 5.90m vault.
He shattered the previous mark of 5.70m set by Japan’s Seito Yamamoto in 2018.
It felt like being in his home turf for Obiena as fans at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium cheered him on when he tried to reset his Asian record by going for 6.02m, although that will have to wait.
“What a way to conclude this amazing season,” Obiena wrote on Facebook.
“Jumping in front of a thunderous-synchronized claps of 80,000 people in a breathtakingly beautiful Hangzhou Stadium was more than enough to blow my mind and unquestionably register a core memory.”
Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president Terry Capistrano said Obiena deserves to enjoy the upcoming holiday season.
“Let him rest for now and then after Christmas we can start thinking of Paris,” said Capistrano. – Rappler.com
