Heading into the Asian Games, Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena had already built an impressive season record, securing 13 podium finishes—including nine gold medals, three silver trophies, and one bronze.
Photo: Ernesto Obiena/Instagram
Obiena’s medal haul came from various tournaments inside and outside Asia. He clinched his first medal of the year when he won bronze at the sixth International Stadium Festival (ISTAF) Indoor Düsseldorf.
Meanwhile, he seized his first championship medal on January 28, 2026, when he and Menno Vloon both failed to clear 5.77 meters, resulting in a joint-gold finish during the Springer-Meeting Cottbus.
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Before leaving Germany, the 6-foot-2 pole vaulter completed the medal set when he bagged a silver medal in February 2026 at the ISTAF Indoor Berlin.
From Europe, Obiena traveled back to Asia to compete in the 12th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Tianjin, China.
Entering the tournament, the two-time Filipino Olympian was eager to bring home gold, as it was the final missing piece in his quest for an Asian Grand Slam.
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His performance during the tournament was close to flawless. Obiena quickly cleared both 5.50 meters and 5.70 meters on his first attempt.
But he did not stop there; he tried to achieve his season’s best and clear 5.80 meters but fell short. Despite the miss, he still secured the gold medal and the continental indoor crown.
After winning on Asian soil, Obiena began his European tour with a silver-medal finish in his outdoor debut at the Flight Circus Düsseldorf in Germany on June 14, 2026.
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He then traveled to Poznań, Poland, where he successfully earned two more gold medals at the Poznań Athletics Grand Prix and the Czesław Cybulski Memorial.
Carrying momentum from his victories in Poland, the 30-year-old pole vaulter won another gold medal at the Raiffeisen Austrian Open in Eisenstadt, Austria.
His gold-medal run ended when he took silver at the World Athletics Continental Tour in Madrid, Spain, in July 2026, after failing three attempts at 5.95 meters.
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Determined to make up for his previous silver finish, Obiena reclaimed the top spot on the podium on German soil during the Halberstädter Höhenflug.
Since then, he has continued to dominate European tournaments by winning three other gold medals at the Stabhochsprung Meeting Jockgrim, the Golden Sand Meet—where he tallied his highest clearance in two years by jumping over 5.91 meters—and the ISTAF Berlin.
Obiena closed out his intense 14-day stretch with his third silver medal during the Domspringen Wesel on September 1, 2026.
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While a medal finish is a great measure of success, not all victories require one.
Despite finishing fifth overall at the Weltklasse Zürich Meeting in Switzerland on August 26 to 27, 2026, Obiena still qualified for the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing, China.
After winning 13 medals so far, Obiena is in Athens, Greece, recovering and training as his team shifts its focus to the Asian Games, running from September 19, 2026, to October 4, 2026, in Nagoya, Japan.
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All eyes are on the two-time Olympian during the continental games as he aims to defend his title. He previously won a historic first gold medal at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, by clearing 5.90 meters. That mark shattered the tournament’s five-year-old record of 5.70 meters set by Japanese pole vaulter Seito Yamamoto in 2018.
Aside from breaking the Asian Games record in pole vault, Obiena’s victory in the previous edition of the continental tournament also ended the Philippines’ 37-year gold medal drought in athletics, following “Asia’s Fastest Woman” Lydia de Vega’s gold medal in the 100-meter sprint in 1986.
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