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Joey Villar - The Philippine Star
April 2, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — World No. 4 EJ Obiena flew to Nantou City for one thing – rule the Taiwan International Pole Vault competition.
And the Asian champion and record-holder from Tondo in Manila did just that at the Sun Moon Lake amid foggy condition yesterday.
The reigning Southeast Asian Games champion took the gold with a 5.50-meter vault, ahead of American Matt Ludwig, who snared the silver with a 5.30m.
The 25-man field also included another Filipino in Hokket delos Santos, heavily considered as Obiena’s successor to the throne who cleared a personal-best 5.15m, which was good for 10th place.
Obiena later called it a leap of faith.
“Well I had a new experience. I had my first fog warning in the midst of a pole vault competition, in Taiwan. With roughly 10 meters visibility, you just disappear. Talk about the proverbial ‘leap of faith,’” he said.
“I am thankful to have won the competition under such “murky” conditions! We can’t always have sunny skies and perfect weather conditions.”
Obiena said he learned a lot in Taiwan.
“We have to persevere through all kinds of adversity. This was a new kind of adversity and I learned from it,” he said.
