EJ Obiena, to jump the heights of Paris Olympics 2024

FROM THE STREETS of Tondo, Manila, to the heights of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, Ernest John “EJ” Uy Obiena is more than ready to once again take the ultimate test of skill for pole vaulting at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

The star athlete was the first from the country to qualify for this quadrennial’s Olympics, ensuring his spot on July 3 when he cleared the competition’s standard of 5.82 meters at the Bauhaus Galan in Stockholm, Sweden, according to a report from Inquirer.

He was also the first Filipino to soar past 6 meters when he bagged a bronze medal at the World Athletics Championship in Bergen, Norway, surpassing his previous record of 5.94 meters.

Following his qualification, the pole-vaulting legend has been consistently training and collecting achievements throughout his season. With an average performance score of 1446, the World Athletics has ranked Obiena the second-best pole vaulter in the world right behind Armand Duplantis.

Beginnings of a legend

Born on November 17, 1995, to track and field athletes Emerson Obiena and Jeannette Uy, Obiena grew up in Tondo, where he started pole vaulting at 8 years old under his father’s mentorship.

He focused on doing hurdles until his last year of high school at Chiang Kai Shek College. He was unable to continue pole vaulting due to lack of equipment. At the time, the only pole-vaulting pit in Metro Manila available for him and his father to train with was at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

But before college, Obiena decided to fully commit to pole vaulting with hopes of grabbing a scholarship.

Ateneo de Manila University saw his potential. He played two seasons there and eventually transferred to the University of Santo Tomas, representing them at the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).

It was in 2014 when Obiena’s first leap to success began after he met the legendary Ukrainian pole vaulter Sergey Bubka.

The young athlete was only hoping to take a picture or an autograph with his idol but their conversation led to him receiving an invitation to train in Italy.

There, he met Vitaly Petrov, yet another legend who has coached multiple Olympic winners. He took Obiena under his tutelage.

Journey to Tokyo Olympics

Then 23-year-old Obiena was also the first Filipino to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when he reached 5.81m, surpassing the 5.80 standard in Chiara, Italy, as reported by Multisport.

According to an article from the Olympics, Obiena was already soaring the skies at the age of 18. In 2014, the high flyer reached 5.01m, replacing Edward Lasquete’s national record of 5.0m from the Barcelona ’92 Olympics.

In the same year, he would reach heights of 5.05, 5.15, and 5.20 until he would eventually end his Junior Pole Vault record at 5.21. This was then followed by a 5.25 in 2015 from his silver medal from the Southeast Asian Games.

One year later, he hit 5.47m at the Philippine National Games despite having a broken pole.

Prior to his attendance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the talented athlete was already a pole-vaulting powerhouse, grabbing gold medals left and right from the 2019 Asian Championship, 2019 World University Games, 2019 Chiara, Italy Meet, and the 2019 Philippine Sea Games.

According to an article from Rappler, the then 25-year-old athlete was also breaking Philippine records as he cleared 5.85 meters in Germany only to break it again at 5.87m.

His victorious streak sadly came to an end due to a misplay at the 5.80m bar at the Olympics leading him to fall short of a bronze medal ranking him 11th in his category.

“I hold myself to high standards,” Obiena said on a Facebook post after the event.

“I am thus, understandably upset, disappointed, and reflecting so I can learn and improve myself.”

This post was met with overwhelming support from his fellow athletes and Filipinos, commending him for his performance while wishing him the best of luck for his future endeavors in the international competition.

Bouncing back on top

With the start of the 2024 Olympics drawing near, expectations are as high as the bars the athlete is set to conquer. According to One Sports, Obiena—who is the Philippine Sports Association’s (PSA) Athlete of the Year—has been on the grind for the gold medal, claiming that he is hungry for the win and is resolved to succeed.

In fact, the 28-year-old athlete started the year with two golds from tournaments in Berlin and Croatia where he broke records in the indoor pole vault, as per One Sports, and won back-to-back medals at the Poland games.

It does seem that Obiena is looking to make history happen in the upcoming Olympics. He is working hard to jump back from his previous stint and dethrone the current world champion, Duplantis.

According to the Philippine Star, Obiena is now in seclusion in Italy for training with his coach, osteopath, and sports psychologist (Petrov, Dr. Antonio Guglieta, and Dr. Sheryl Casuga) to ensure that not only is he physically fit but mentally prepared, too.

The same article said that the world-class vaulter will be joining the qualification on August 3 at the Stade de France as he spearheads the bid of the three-man Filipino tracksters.

Should he succeed, the finals for the pole vault are set for August 5.

Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) secretary-general Jasper Tanhueco said that the three athletes meant to represent the country’s athletics are currently in their training’s final stages in Europe.

According to Patafa, Obiena is “considered one of the top medal bets of the compact Philippine delegation.”

With reports from Prince Bryan J. M. Marquez