‘Leap of faith’: Obiena overcomes foggy conditions to win gold in Taiwan meet

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Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena kicks off his outdoor season on the right foot by ruling the Taiwan International Pole Vault Championship

MANILA, Philippines – EJ Obiena took a “leap of faith” and struck gold to open the outdoor season.

Obiena overcame foggy conditions and cleared 5.50 meters to rule the Taiwan International Pole Vault Championship at the Sun Moon Lake in Nantou on Monday, March 31.

“With roughly 10 meters visibility, you just disappear. Talk about the proverbial ‘leap of faith’! Well, I decided to go for it and place my leap of faith in God’s hand,” Obiena wrote on his social media accounts. 

“I am thankful to have won the competition under such ‘murky’ conditions!”

The reduced visibility perhaps caused Obiena to miss his first two attempts at 5.50m, a height he normally hurdles being the Asian record holder of 6.00m.

But Obiena got the job done on his third and final try to pick up his third gold of the year after topping the ORLEN Copernicus Cup in Poland and the Meeting Metz Moselle Athelor in France in February.

“We can’t always have sunny skies and perfect weather conditions. We have to persevere through all kinds of adversity,” said Obiena.

“This was a new kind of adversity and I learned from it!”

Other Filipinos competed in the meet, with Hokett delos Santos soaring past 5.15m and Francis Allen Sillar clearing 3.91m.

Ma. Khrizzie Clarisse Ruzol and Jessa Marie Libres both recorded 3.40m in women’s action. – Rappler.com