It’s safe to say EJ Obiena and the Philippines understood the assignment. The Atletang Ayala Pole Vault Championship was supposed to showcase the country’s talent and hospitality, and Obiena and the Filipinos delivered big time.
Obiena, who has been in the midst of a dry spell lately, dished out his finest performance of 2025 yet to win gold at the Atletang Ayala Pole Vault Championship held on Sunday afternoon in Makati.
Obiena Goes Toe-to-Toe with French Bet
The world No. 7 won the Sunday showcase by besting world No. 12 Thibaut Collet of France in a thrilling head-to-head that saw both men trying to one-up the other at 5.80 meters. The 28-year-old two-time Olympian cleared that height on his second attempt while the Frenchman was unable to do the same in his first two tries.
Collet kept the gold-medal battle going by clearing 5.80 meters in his third attempt before deciding to raise the bar to 5.90 meters. Obiena tried 5.85 meters to put the pressure on his rival but failed in his first two attempts. He also failed in his lone attempt at 5.90 meters. The pride of France couldn’t clear 5.90 meters either, giving Obiena the gold via countback.
“The crowd pushed me to the edge, and I was able to give my best performance of the season. I think this is one of the best jumps I had this year,” said Obiena, who previously cleared 5.80 meters at the Meeting Madrid event in Spain last July. “[It was] a fairytale finish, I would say.”
Pole Vault Bets Gush About ‘Amazing’ Experience
While Obiena was the star of stars on Sunday, the Philippines also took center stage as the pole vaulters who came to compete in Atletang Ayala lauded the experience. Collet, in particular, gushed about the atmosphere and the way the event went about—as did world No. 15 and bronze medalist Piotr Lisek.
“We all know what it is to have a big, big atmosphere around us. But today in particular was beautiful and amazing,” said the La Tronche native.
“The crowd was amazing. It was a pure pleasure to be here and compete with these handsome guys,” Lisek added. “Everybody was 100 percent professional, so I’m glad to be here. Thank you so much.”
Joining Obiena, Collet, and Lisek in the nine-man Atletang Ayala field were world No. 5 Ersu Sasma of Turkey, No. 6 Menno Vloon of the Netherlands, No. 14 Austin Miller of the USA, No. 16 Oleg Zernikel of Germany, No. 23 Matt Ludwig of the USA, and the University of Santo Tomas’ Hokett delos Santos, who got an invite to join Atletang Ayala after winning a national-level competition on Sunday.
Another foreign pole vaulter, world No. 13 Ben Broeders of Belgium, was supposed to take part in the event but withdrew because of back spasms.
