EJ Obiena continues resurgence with his eighth gold of the season

MANILA, Philippines–EJ Obiena continued his resurgence with another gold medal at the Golden Sand 2026 in Międzyzdroje, Poland late Monday night (Manila time).

Obiena soared to a season-best 5.91m, while also breaking the meet record to claim his eighth gold of the year.

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“I haven’t been up here for some time. 5.91m here in Międzyzdroje for the [gold] and a new meeting record. Thank you very much Golden Sand for having me. Happy to finally be back over a 90 bar,” Obiena posted on his Facebook on Tuesday.

“Step by step,” he wrote in a separate post on his Instagram.

Regaining his old form after he was held back by injuries over the past two years, the two-time Olympian breached the 5.90m mark for the first time in two years.

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The 30-year-old Obiena dominated the field. His closest competitor, Qatar’s Seifeldin Abdelsalam, registered 5.75m for silver while American Cole Walsh bagged the bronze via countback with a 5.70m, edging Saudi Arabia’s Hassam Al-Hizam.

Obiena is aiming to keep his winning trend going in hopes of cracking the top eight in the world rankings to earn him a spot in the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship next month in Budapest, Hungary. He climbed one spot to World number 13 following his latest gold medal win.

The Filipino pole vault star, who reached a career-high ranking of World No. 2 in July 2023, is also the heavy favorite when he defends his Asian Games title next month in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

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He set the Asiad record at 5.90m to secure the gold in Hangzhou, China in 2023.

Obiena’s triumph in Poland followed his back-to-back victories in Germany earlier this month.