EJ Obiena continued his winning run after taking the silver medal in the Finals of the Diamond League held in Eugene, Oregon, USA on Monday, September 18 (Manila time).

The Thomasian pole vaulter secured second place after vaulting 5.82 meters behind the world’s no. 1 Armand Duplantis who set himself apart after vaulting a record-breaking 6.23 meters on his first attempt, breaking his world record for the seventh time to win gold.

Obiena challenged Duplantis for the gold after fellow American vaulters Sam Kendricks and world’s no.3 Chris Nilsen, and Australian vaulter Kurtis Marschall who failed to vault the 5.82m mark.

The Filipino pole vaulter and the current world no. 2 raised the bar to 6.02 meters but was unable to vault past the height.

Meanwhile, Duplantis left Obiena in the dust and secured the gold after clearing 6.02m and eventual record-shattering performance of 6.23m . Behind Obiena, USA’s Sam Kendricks claimed bronze over Australia’s Kurtis Marschall and fellow American Chris Nilsen who all cleared a vault of 5.72m.

Obiena’s recent victories included a gold medal finish at the Asian Athletics Championships held in Thailand and a silver medal win at the World Athletics Championships held in Hungary

Obiena’s next stop will be in China for the Asian Games, starting on September 23. —with reports from Adriann Ancheta