Obiena shares first gold of 2026 season with Vloon in Cottbus

January 30 ------ EJ OBIENA snatched the 2026 International Jump-Meeting Cottbus gold in Germany by clearing a season-best 5.77 meters.

In his second competition of the season, Obiena shared the title with Menno Vloon of Netherlands. The Filipino pole vaulter is already 0.03 meters away from equaling his season-best of 5.80 meters from last year’s campaign when he competed through injuries. Obiena was coming off a bronze medal in the ISTAF Indoor Dusseldorf where he cleared 5.65 meters.

Sam Kendricks of the U.S. also cleared 5.77 meters, but Obiena and Vloon got the gold via countback. Both of them hit the mark on their second attempt. “Brick by brick, we build,” said Obiena in a Facebook post.

Source: spin.ph