Tokyo-bound pole vaulter EJ Obiena kept his sanity amid the pandemic to win his first gold medal this year at the 2020 Ostrava Golden Spike at the Municipal Stadium in Ostrava, Czech Republic with a season-best of 5.74 meters. Obiena’s dream of bagging the country’s first Olympic gold medal is materializing as he defeated 2012 London Olympics gold medalist Renaud Lavillenie of France, who had the same score but had more failed attempts. Sam Kendricks of the United States bagged the bronze medal of the tournament fielded by the star-studded line-up of Rio Olympic gold medalist Thiago Braz da Silva, ex-world champions Polish Pawel Wojciechowski and German Raphael Holzdeppe, among others. But the most important thing, Emerson said, was to keep Obiena away from mental distractions and keep him sane heading to the Olympics. The 24-year-old 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist will compete next in the Poznan Poland Competitions on Friday (September 11).

Source: Manila Times September 09, 2020 16:41 UTC