EJ Obiena soars to gold in USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix

EJ Obiena bolstered his preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics after nailing the gold medal in the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix on Sunday morning (Manila time) at the Drake Stadium in Los Angeles.

The 28-year-old pole vault ace reigned supreme after soaring past 5.80 meter-mark to complete another feat with only months away from his second straight Summer Games participation.

Obiena edged Norway's Simen Guttormsen, who registered 5.70m, while hometown bets KC Lightfoot and Christopher Nilsen, who are both familiar foes to the Filipino bet, finished third and fourth with identical 5.70m finishes.

This is the latest golden run for Obiena this year after also ruling the Memorial Josip Gasparac in Croatia and ISTAF Indoor Tournament in Berlin both in February.

Meanwhile, Filipina-American Olympic hopeful Lauren Hoffman wound up fifth in the women's 400m hurdles in the same tournament after finishing the race in 55.84 seconds. 

Anna Cockrell of USA topped the event with 53.75 output while Andrenette Knight of Jamaica and another American in Cassandra Tate finished second and third after clocking in 54.69 and 55.02 seconds. 

—Bea Micaller/JKC, GMA Integrated News