Surgical procedure has been done successfully on the injured knee of Ernest John Obiena.
Obiena, who rose a notch to no. 5 in the World Athletics’ ranking and has remained as Asia’s no. 1 pole vaulter at the end of 2021, said this in a statement on Facebook.
Obiena added that he remains on track for his first competition this year at the end of the month.
According to the weekly World Athletics’ updates, Obiena dislodged Renaud Lavellenie of France from fifth.
Still at no. 1 is Swedish world record holder Armand Duplantis, followed by Americans Sam Kendricks and Christopher Nilsen, with KC Lightfoot in fourth.
The 26-year old Obiena gave a shoutout to his fans, supporters, followers and to the Philippine Sports Commission.
“Down but not OUT!!! Surgery was successful They have cleaned the meniscus and have removed the screw on my knee from the ACL reconstruction back in 2017 as the bone graft has fully solidified. It shouldn’t affect my recovery and we’re still on and aiming for 28th of January competition,” said Obiena on Facebook after emerging from surgery in Germany.
Obiena’s rankings started rising after he cleared 5.93 meters last September at the 2021 Golden Roof Challenge in Innsbruck Austria.
He is in front of reigning Asian Games champion Seito Yamamoto of Japan, who set a meet record of 5.70 meters. Another Japanese, Kosei Takekawa is no. 3 in Asia.