By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Pole vaulter EJ Obiena bolstered his resume with barely a month left before the Tokyo Olympics as she shared the gold medal with reigning Olympic champion Thiago Braz of Brazil in the True Athletes Classics Sunday in Leverkusen, Germany.
Obiena and Braz both cleared 5.80 meters on their second attempts to rule the 11-player field composed mostly of Olympic qualifiers.
Both tried 5.90m but they failed.
Germany’s Bo Kanda Lita Baehre settled for bronze with 5.80m on his third attempt while compatriot Oleg Zernikel of Germany came in fourth with 5.65m.
Melker Svard Jakobsson of Sweden finished fifth, while Tokyo-bound athletes Sondre Guttormsen of Norway and Toben Bleck of Germany finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
Obiena posted a new national outdoor record of 5.85m in a German tilt early this month.
He is expected to compete in three more outdoor meets as he intensified his preparations.
