Pole vaulter EJ Obiena emerged victorious, resetting the meet record at 5.91 meters on the final day of the Asian Athletics Championships at the Suphachalasai National Stadium in Pattaya, Thailand on Sunday.
Obiena, 27, eclipsed the meet record of 5.71m which he set back in Doha in 2019 and clinched his second straight Asian Athletics Championships gold medal.
The three-time Southeast Asian Games champion tried to leap over 6.02m but failed in three attempts.
Asim Alhizam Hussain of Saudi Arabia was in distant second place after tallying 5.56m while Huang Bokai of China took the bronze medal over Japan’s Tomoya Karasawa via countback despite both athletes going over 5.51m.
Qatar’s Mohamed A Abdelsalam Seifeldin got fifth place with 5.41m with Patsapong Amsamarng of Thailand took sixth place over Duhyeon Han of South Korea via countback despite posting identical heights of 5.31m.
Cheng Chi Huang of Chinese Taipei posted 5.16m for eighth place with Kazakhstan’s Tovchenik Ivan taking ninth place with 5.01m.
Pui Yin Cheng of Hong Kong failed to get past the starting height of 4.61m with Chinese pole vaulter Jie Yao failing to get over 5.51m.
Kasinpob Chomchanad failed to go over 5.31m and, like Pui Yin and Jie, did not complete his mark.
