EJ in final warmups for Tokyo

MANILA, Philippines — There’s no slack in Olympic pole vault qualifier EJ Obiena’s schedule as he’s lined up to jump in four top-grade competitions in Germany, Poland and Sweden before proceeding to Tokyo in his quest for a podium finish.

Obiena, 25, is booked to participate in the True Athletes Classics in Leverkusen, Germany, tomorrow, the Irena Szewinska Memorial Cup in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on Wednesday and two meets in Stockholm on July 2 and 4. The last stop is the Bauhaus-Galan in the Wanda Diamond League circuit. Obiena said he expects Tokyo favorites World No. 1 Mondo Duplantis of Sweden, No. 2 Sam Kendricks of the US and No. 6 Thiago Braz da Silva of Brazil to show up in the events. Duplantis, 21, is the world indoor and outdoor records holder, Kendricks, 28, was the 2017 world champion and Braz da Silva, 27, is the defending Olympic gold medalist. Obiena is ranked World No. 10.

Obiena said he initially considered leaving for Tokyo early and training in a camp in Nagasaki which is 1,230 kilometers from the Japanese capital but his Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov ruled out the option. “It’s a 12-hour flight from Rome to Tokyo,” said the Italy-based Obiena in a taped interview to be shown in a coming episode on “PlayItRightTV.” “Then it will be about a 15-hour drive to Nagasaki because we wouldn’t be able to lug my poles unless in a car. So now, we plan to leave Rome on July 22, arrive in Tokyo the next day and get some practice time before the competition.” The qualifying round for pole vault is set on July 31 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at the Japan National Stadium and the final will be on Aug. 3 from 7 to 9:55 p.m.

At the moment, Obiena said he’ll be using borrowed poles in his last four competitions. A brand new order of poles is coming in from UCS Spirit, a manufacturer in Minden, Nevada. “I’m lucky to be with coach Vitaly,” he said. “When I was given an athletics scholarship by Sergey Bubka through PATAFA president Sir Popoy Juico to train at the pole vault center in Formia in 2014,  I never expected to be coached by Sir Vitaly. When I first met him, I was star-struck and it blew my mind. He treats me like a son and to train alongside Thiago has been a blessing. I’m grateful to PSC and PATAFA, especially to Sir Popoy and (secretary-general) Sir Terry (Capistrano) for the support and the opportunity to chase my Olympic dream.”

Obiena said suffering an ACL injury in his left knee in 2017 was “a pivotal point” in his career. “For six months while I did rehab, I thought about my future,” he said. “Will I work hard to get stronger or will I walk away from sports? I told myself if I didn’t try for the Olympics, I would later regret it. So it motivated me to work harder. This could be my only Olympics, you’ll never know, so my goal is to do my best in Tokyo. I’ve competed against the world’s best so it won’t be new to me competing against them again in Tokyo, it’s just higher stakes. When I look at that bar, holding my pole, my only focus is to clear it, to go over, not under. I’ve sacrificed so much since staying in Formia after the SEA Games in 2019. I haven’t seen my family in nearly three years. When I compete in different countries, I’m often on my own, booking flights, renting cars, driving long hours alone. I’m on leave from UST and I’m hoping to someday, resume my studies for an electrical engineering degree. Right now, my only focus is the Olympics. The rest will come later.”