By a Correspondent
Every time he wins a medal for his country and the national flag goes up during the victory ceremony, World Championship silver medallist pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena will be thanking hundreds of his generous countrymen a hundred times in his mind for their support and confidence in him that gave wings to his dreams.
It was no different, at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China as Obiena put the Philippines flag on top beating his training partners including China’s Bokai Huang who was in tears after losing to the Filipino in the duel for glory that reached great heights in men’s pole vault.
In fact it was a double treat for the Philippines’ fans as he bagged the gold and broke Japan’s Seito Yamamoto’s 5.70m from the Jakarta Asian Games with a clearance of 5.90m. He then went for his own Asian mark of six metres with the bar set at 6.02m but failed thrice. “My mind was willing but I didn’t have the energy to push through,” Obiena said in an interview for the AAA website. Such was his domination of the field that Obiena’s starting height was 5.55m, which came an hour into the competition, a height which only four among the 10 finalists managed to clear.
Crowdfunded training trip for EJ
Back in 2013, when he was selected to train at the World Athletics Pole Vault Centre in Formia, Italy there was no one to help him find the funds for his trip. And those were the tough days he cleared, and a decade later those experiences have given him the confidence that he can soar to greater heights at the Paris Olympics.
“The first time I had to go to Italy, we asked for money from the people. It was a crowd funded trip. We were literally begging with the people of the Philippines online saying to fund our mission. That’s why I strongly feel while representing my country. Because it was not the government or any single entity that took the risk of sending me there. It was a combination of people’s support that helped me,” Obiena said.
“Sergey Bubka was in my country back in 2013 and there was this program of World Athletics, then IAAF, for countries without Olympic medals and the Philippines kind of fell into that. So he came to the Philippines and I was already jumping 4.95m. But all I wanted was to have a photo with this guy. He is the legend of the sport and world record holder at that time and arguably again the most records by any athlete. The offer was a ticket to Formia if I cleared 5 meters and I did,” he said.
Asked how he took to the sport, the Electronics Engineering graduate said he began with his Dad. In fact, except EJ’s mother Jeanette, a University level hurdler, the other three in the family excelled in pole vault. His father Emerson Obiena won medals for the Philippines in men’s pole vault at the South East Asian (SEA) Games in 2005 and 07 while his younger sister Emily Jean represented the Philippines at the 2017 SEA Games.
“How I began is with my Dad. He brought me into the track and introduced me to the sport and he himself is still passionate about it. As much as my coach Vitaly Petrov who made me who I’m now, I would not even be pole vaulting without my Dad,” Obiena said.
“The first height I cleared was the pit, just the mattress,” he said laughing. “My first competition was in Taiwan, where my Dad went with his students. A young boy was jumping with a bunch of high school girls. I was not planning to jump, but they allowed me to join. I jumped three metres after borrowing shorts from one of Dad’s athletes,” the Budapest World Championship silver medallist recalled.
Speaking about Petrov, Obiena said the coach is one of a kind. “He was never easy with me. He never saw a Bubka in me and I’m one of the first Asian athletes he ever had. So there was this cultural, physical and physiological differences with the Europeans that he is more used to training. He was pushing me but he was patient. I was always at the verge of that limit. But he is very structural and scientific. It’s either you made it happen or you didn’t do it. So I’m very happy to have this mentor.”
“That was totally different from what I have seen and I took a leap of faith. That’s the best decision I’ve ever made. I moved to Italy in 2014 and I’ve been working with my coach for nine years now,” Obiena said about Petrov, former coach of Sergey Bubka.
It was the end of a hugely successful season for Obiena and he now shifts his focus to the new year. With the Asian Games job done, topping the list for Olympics year is to have another exciting duel with World No. 1 Armand Duplantis.
KNOW YOUR STAR
Name: EJ Obiena
Age: 27
DOB: 17, November 1995
RECORDS
Asian Record: 6.0m
Asian Games Record: 5.90m
MEDALS
Silver, World Championships, 2023
Bronze, World Championships, 2022
Gold, Asian Games, 2023
Gold, Diamond League, Brussels, 2022
Gold, Asian Championships, 2023
Gold, Asian Championships, 2019
Bronze, Asian Championships, 2017….eom
