Filipino pole vault sensation EJ Obiena cleared 5.71 meters to win the gold medal and beat two Chinese foes on Easter Sunday in the 23rd Asian Athletics Championship in Doha, Qatar at the Khalifa stadium.In doing so, the 23-year-old Obiena set a new course record and a new Philippine mark as well, in getting past the last attempts of Chinese bets Zhang Wei and Huang Bokai.
Zhang and Huang both cleared 5.66 meters, after the Filipino bet had done well at 5.61 meters.
As Zhang missed his three tries at 5.71 meters, and Bokai bungled two tries at that height, Obiena managed to clear it right in his first and only attempt.
The two Chinese vaulters eventually settled for the silver and bronze medals, while Korean Jin Minsub, who cleared 5.61 meters, was fourth.
A new Asian Championship course record was set after Obiena ended a 10-year drought in the pole vault as he went a centimeter beyond the 5.7-meter mark set by Grigory Yegorov of Kazakhstan in the 1993 Asian Championships in Manila.
