He has set a new personal record in the current outdoor season.
On Friday, July 17 (Manila time), Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena competed in the Meeting Madrid 2026 in Spain.
During which, he was able to make back-to-back achievements, not only by securing a medal, but also having his season best jump.
Through a post on his personal Instagram account, the 30-year-old shared a clip of his performance at the said tournament.
“Green socks 🧦 for the green track of Madrid 🇪🇸 5.85m for 2nd place🥈and SB here [at Meeting Madrid 2026]. Thank you for having us. Will get this bar next time,” Obiena attached in the caption.
At the said event, EJ clinched the silver medal after clearing the 5.85-meter high bar, which is also his best performance in this season.
He was trumped by Bo Kanda Lita Baehre (Germany), who bagged the gold medal with him clearing the 5.90-meter bar.
Meanwhile, Pedro Buaró (Portugal) received the bronze medal for reaching the equal height of EJ’s 5.85 meters.
This development comes after EJ was able to achieve his previous season best of 5.81 meters at the Fly Athens Street Pole Vault in Greece. Although, he fell short of a podium finish as he landed in fourth place.
Meanwhile, prior to both events, Obiena competed at the Czeslaw Cybulski Memorial in Poland, where he bagged the gold medal.
This year, he also won gold medals in Cottbus, Germany, which he shared with Menno Vloon, the Asian Indoor Championships in Tianjin, China, the ISTAF Indoor contest in Berlin, Germany.
He also clinched silver at the Flight Circus Düsseldorf in Germany — which was the final competition in his calendar for the indoor season.