Obiena breaks 22-year-old PHL pole vault record

MANILA, Philippines – Ernest John "EJ" Obiena's three-month training with six-time world pole vault champion Sergey Bubka of Ukraine in Formia, Italy early this year has paid off.

Obiena, 18, has shattered the 22-year-old mark of 5.0 meters flat set by Ed Lasquete in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics by registering 5.01 meters in the PATAFA weekly relays at the Philsports Oval in Pasig City last weekend.

"EJ Obiena (only 18 years old) broke the 22-year-old Philippine record in pole vault in last Sunday's PATAFA weekly relays that was participated in by 1,200 athletes," Phl Sports commissioner Jolly Gomez on Monday told The STAR.

PSC consultant Andrew Pirie said the 5.01 mark is also a national juniors record since the Ateneo sophomore is still technically a junior as the son of former Filipino pole vault champion Emerson is only turning 19 this December.

"He (Obiena) has taken the junior record from 4.31 to 5.01 in the last three years. It's really impressive," said Pirie.

With more training, Obiena could approach the Southeast Asian Games record of Thai Kreeta Sintawacheewa five years ago in Vientiane, Laos.

Obiena, who finished fourth in the Myanmar SEAG last year, cleared the 5.0-meter requirement early in the year, paving the way for him to train with Bubka, vice president of the International Association of Athletics Federations who is spearheading the training camp.

Bubka, of course, is arguably the best pole vaulter who ever lived after he won the Olympic gold in 1998 in Seoul, South Korea,  shattered the world 35 times--17 in outdoor and 18 in indoor meets – and was the first ever in the sport to breach the 6.0m and 6.10m mark.

Bubka, now 50 years old, owned the world mark of 6.15m for almost 21 years until French Renaud Lavillenie cleared 6.16m on Feb. 15, 2014.