World No. 11 pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena helped the Philippines post its best-ever showing in the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships after winning the gold medal in the 12th edition of the trackfest Saturday in Tianjin, China.

Obiena cleared 5.70 meters in his first attempt to rule the five-man event.

Hometown bet Li Chenyang settled for a silver medal after clearing 5.60m while his teammate Chen Yang clinched the bronze after clearing 5.40m.

“Your boy is finally an Asian Indoor Champ. This means way more than just a win for me!!!” Obiena said.

“For now, we fly back to Germany for the INIT Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe today.”

Obiena, who is still based in Formia, Italy, is aiming to clear 5.90m to earn an outright berth in the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland from 20 to 22 March.

The Asian tilt was Obiena’s second gold medal after ruling the International Springer-Meeting in Germany last 29 January alongside Menno Vloon of the Netherlands.

He and Vloon are competing at the INIT Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe in Germany at press time. 

Obiena’s gold surpassed the 2024 edition in Tehran, Iran where the Philippines only grabbed a bronze medal courtesy of Spain-based hurdler John Cabang.

Unfortunately, Cabang wasn’t able to make the podium this year as he finished in fifth place in the final with a time of 7.71 seconds.

Last Friday saw Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Hussein Loraña clock in 1:50.74 in the 800m event in his debut in the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships.

Leonard Grospe joined the men’s high jump as he finished sixth out of 16 competitors after tallying 2.05m.

Obiena has now won every tournament on the continent after dominating the Asian Games in 2023 and his three-peat in the Asian Athletics Championships in 2019, 2023, and 2025.

He hopes to enter the World Championships after missing out last year.