THE euphoria by the stirring run of tennis prodigy Alex Eala has yet to fully die down, but another Filipino athlete made heads turn again abroad.

Foggy conditions could not slow EJ Obiena down as the top Filipino pole vaulter captured the gold medal in the Taiwan International Pole Vault Competition on Monday, March 31, at the Sun Moon Lake in Nantou City, Chinese Taipei.

Obiena ruled the 25-player field by clearing the bar at 5.50 meters on his third attempt, beating American Matt Ludwig, who settled for silver with 5.30.

Another Filipino participant Hokket Delos Santos managed 10th place with a personal-best 5.15m.

Obiena said competing under zero visibility conditions at the venue with an elevation of 2,454 feet above sea level was totally something new to him.

“During several of the many flights I have taken to compete in pole vault around the world, I have indeed encountered fog warnings at the airport where you can see very little,” Obiena said in a social media post.

“Well, I had a new experience (today). I had my first fog warning in the midst of a pole vault competition, in Taiwan. With roughly 10 meters visibility, you just disappear,” he added.

Opting to push through with his third attempt despite the fog warning was some sort of leap of faith, said Obiena.

“I am thankful to have won the competition under such ‘murky’ conditions! We can’t always have sunny skies and perfect weather conditions. We have to persevere through all kinds of adversity. This was a new kind of adversity and I learned from it!” Obiena said.(CCM)

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• #Gold Model
• #Taiwan International Pole Vault Competition
• #Matt Ludwig