Obiena captures pole vault gold at 30th Napoli Universiade

PHILIPPINE PRIDE. Ernest John Obiena holds the Philippine flag after winning the men’s pole vault event in the recently-held Summer Universiade in Napoli, Italy. Obiena’s performance was a record-breaking one as he erased his previous national mark of 5.71 meters set during the Asian Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar last April. (Photo courtesy of Napoli Universiade via PNA)

MANILA — The Philippines bagged its second gold medal in the Summer Universiade after Ernest John Obiena topped the men’s pole vault event in the 30th edition of the Games in Napoli, Italy recently.

The 23-year-old Obiena, a product of Chiang Kai Shek College and the University of Santo Tomas, and Torben Blech of Germany submitted identical 5.76 meters but the Filipino won on countback. Ben Broeders of Belgium placed third with 5.51 meters.

Obiena’s performance was a record-breaking one as he erased his previous national mark of 5.71 meters set during the Asian Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar last April.

Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines (FESSAP) president Angel Ngu; chairman Alvin Tai Lian; honorary president David Ong; and Robert Milton Calo, who chaired the Napoli Universiade preparation committee, congratulated Obiena for bringing honor to the country.

The Philippines won its first gold in the Summer Universiade courtesy of chess player Wesley So in Kazan, Russia six years ago.

Aside from the golds won by Obiena and So, the Philippines has won two silvers from taekwondo’s Samuel Thomas Harper Morrison (2011 Shenzhen, China) and wushu’s Jomar Balangui (2017 Taipei).

The FESSAP is a member of the International University Sports Federation (FISU), which organizes the Summer and Winter Universiades, as well as the World University Championships.

The Universiade is considered as the Olympic Games for student-athletes. More than 10,000 athletes and officials from 150 countries join the biggest multi-sport tournament.

The next Summer Universiade will be held in Chengdu, China in August 2021.

The Philippine delegation’s trip to Italy was made possible with the support of Bestank Corp., OMNI Electrical & Lights from Yatai International Corp., Technological University of the Philippines, Megaworld Corp., Globe Telecom, San Miguel Corp., Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), Bataan Peninsula State University, Republic Biscuit, University of Baguio, and ASICS Tiger from Sonak Corp.-Philippines (official outfitter).