The Philippines’ champion athlete Ernest John “EJ” Obiena has jumped to the 3rd rank among the world’s top pole vaulters after his record-breaking performance during the 2021 season.
The Filipino pride and Asia’s top pole vaulter finished in joint 3rd place in the year-end ranking of the top performers in men’s pole vault released by the World Athletics.
Obiena is tied with USA’s Sam Kendricks and Russian athlete Timur Morgunov in the third spot.
The athletics body hailed the Filipino athlete for his historic leap of 5.93 meters in Austria which broke the Asian record of 5.92m held by Kazakhstan’s Igor Potapovich for 23 years.
EJ Obiena also surpassed his personal best and the Philippine national record three times in the 2021 season – 5.85m set in Germany to 5.87m set in Poland, and the current 5.91m established in Paris.
EJ Obiena previously ranked 5th in the Men’s Pole Vault world rankings after reaching the finals in his debut at the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.
EJ Obiena shared about his recent feat and thanked his fans for the support on his Facebook account.
“2021, what a year! Ended it with a: Triple tied #3 Highest jump (outdoor) for 2021. Was #13 in 2020,” EJ Obiena wrote in a Facebook post on January 2, 2022.
“So much to be grateful for. And so much to look forward to. Thank you for all your support and for believing in me. I will keep on striving to be better,” Obiena added.
SEND CHEERS in the comments below to the Philippines’ champion pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena for being named among the top three pole vaulters in the world for his record-breaking performance during the 2021 season.
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