By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter
POLE-VAULTER EJ Obiena holds the distinction as the first Filipino athlete to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo and is looking to create more history as he competes in the rescheduled quadrennial Games.
“The Olympics is very near and no one can predict the results, but rest assured that the fighting spirit is very much alive. We will proudly not just represent the Philippines, but fight for its glory,” shared the 25-year-old Obiena on social media.
The Manila native is one of 19 Philippine bets out to hand the country its first-ever Olympic gold medal in almost a century of participation.
Mr. Obiena, who qualified for the Olympics in September 2019 in a tournament in Napoli, Italy, has spent majority of the past few years in Italy for his training; a situation that was not easy, especially with the pandemic, but something he had to do in the hopes of achieving his goals in Tokyo.
“When you’re out of the country and seeing what’s happening, it’s not easy… So hopefully, I can give back something to the country of some sort [in the Olympics during these times],” he told digital site PusoPilipinas.
And it has paid dividends for him as he steadily won a number of international competitions, including gold medals in meets in the Czech Republic, Germany and Italy.
He also struck gold in the Asian Championships, Southeast Asian Games and World University Games in 2019.
The solid run has him now ranked number six in the world in the men’s pole vault.
For the Olympics, the target for Mr. Obiena is to top his personal best and national records of 5.87 meters (outdoor) and 5.86 meters (indoor) to position himself for a podium finish, or even a gold.
To do that, he has to contend against a tough field which include world number one Armand Duplantis of Sweden, Americans Sam Kendricks and Christopher Nilsen, Polish Piotr Lisek and French Renaud Lavillenie.
Mr. Obiena begins his campaign on July 31 (qualification) with the pole-vault finals set for Aug. 3. He is due in Tokyo on Friday, July 23, hours before the Opening Ceremony.
The Tokyo Olympics will last until Aug. 8.