Obiena bags bronze in German tourney

Ernest John Obiena emerged with another podium finish after clinching the bronze medal in the INIT Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe in Germany early Monday (Manila time).

The 30-year-old Obiena cleared 5.70 meters after one attempt to display his seriousness in qualifying for the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland from 20 to 22 March.

Sondre Guttormsen of Norway secured the gold medal after clearing 5.84m while Cole Walsh of the United States settled for second place after tallying 5.78m.

What made Obiena’s podium finish more special as it happened a day after winning the gold medal in the 12th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships last Saturday in Tianjin, China.

Obiena looks back at his recent victory with fondness as he now completed the gold medals in every single continental event.

“What makes this Asian Indoor Championships Gold medal so special is this: It was my second time to enter the arena of this competition. For multiple various reasons, including being unable to get my poles to the host city, this was my first real chance in this arena after a decade (from my first),” Obiena said in a social media post.

“Secondly, this was the final remaining Asian Championship gold that I haven’t got.  I have won multiple SEA (Southeast Asian) Games, Asian Games, Asian Championships, the one remaining was the Asian Indoors Championship.”

“In pole vault, we finally have won every single Asian Championship gold medal.”

Obiena boasts a stacked gold medal count in his resume.

He won four straight golds in the SEA Games from 2019 to 2025 and three mints in the Asian Athletics Championships in 2019, 2023 and 2025.

Obiena dominated the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China as he cleared 5.90m.

Now that his Asian medal cabinet is complete, Obiena now looks towards booking a slot for the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland.

Obiena needs to clear 5.90m on or before 8 March to join the biggest indoor athletics tilt where stars like Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, Sam Kendricks and world record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden are expected to compete.

He is also redeeming himself from last year’s indoor campaign after not making the entry standard of 5.85m.

The last time Obiena entered the World Athletics Indoor Championships was in 2024 in Glasgow, where he finished in ninth place after clearing 5.65m.