Ernest John Obiena arrived in South Korea last Monday as he guns for a three-peat in the men’s pole vault event of the Asian Athletics Championships.

Obiena, 29, will acclimatize to the cold Korean weather for at least two weeks while preparing for the tournament that starts on 27 May in Gumi.

The two-time World Athletics Championships medalist is coming off a season-best 5.80 meters last week at the PATAFA Pole Vault Challenge in Imus, Cavite.

Despite remaining at fourth place in the World Athletics rankings, Obiena looks to slowly get back on form after fully recovering from his back injury.

Obiena won the Taiwan International Pole Vault Championships after jumping 5.50 meters and since then, his jumps have been slowly getting higher.

At the Xiamen leg of the Diamond League, he finished in seventh place after tallying 5.62m.

His best height so far this year in the Diamond League would be in fifth place after jumping 5.72m in the Shanghai leg last 3 May.

The 29-year-old Obiena remains a heavy favorite in the pole vault after winning the 2019 and 2023 editions of the Asian Championships.

Huang Bokai of China and Hussain Al-Hizam of Saudi Arabia, who are both Obiena’s training partners under Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov, are touted as the biggest threats to his Asian title.

After the Asian Championships, Obiena will fly back to Europe to resume his Diamond League campaign on 12 June in Oslo, Norway.