Obiena puts PATAFA row behind after COA report, World Athletics bronze
MANILA, Philippines – EJ Obiena's redemption from the infamous dispute with the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) over alleged embezzled funds has been completed with the pole vaulter’s historic bronze medal in the World Athetics Championships on Sunday (Monday, Manila time).
Just days before Obiena jumped a new personal best and Asian record in the worlds held in Eugene, Oregon, he had a different victory after the Commission on Audit (COA) cleared him of accusations of misusing funds given to him by PATAFA.
COA made its findings apparent to the Philippine Sports Commission in its annual audit report.
After months of controversy and uncertainty involving his pole vault future for the Philippines, Obiena is eager to leave the issue behind after capping it off with the country's first-ever podium finish in worlds.
"You know, there's a lot of things that happened this year and I keep telling everyone who's asking me I didn't know at the start of the year if I was gonna be here, I didn't know if I'm gonna be able to compete, I didn't even know if I can represent Philippines and you know, all of that doubt, of course, played a role, may be a blessing in disguise or a negative thing, nobody would know," Obiena told Philippine media in an online press conference on Tuesday.
"My approach to it is to really just to move forward and now, I'm very thankful for what transpired and now I'm very happy, how do you say, COA shared their findings in the public and that's very [much] appreciated. I wanna thank COA for that and I just wanna move forward," he added.
Obiena missed out on competing in the World Athletics Indoor Championships back in March due to PATAFA's non-endorsement.
The 26-year-old's title bid in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi was also put in peril before the Philippine Olympic Committee forced PATAFA's hand in letting Obiena compete. He eventually defended his gold.
Despite all that had happened, though, Obiena said it is high time to let bygones be bygones and instead focus on continuing to improve.
"Dwelling on the past, that put me in this position right now is really, not productive so I really just wanna move ahead and look forward on what I need to do and things I can actually improve," he said.
Last Sunday (Monday in Manila), Obiena cleared a new personal best and Asian record 5.94m in Eugene, Oregon to win bronze in the prestigious competition.
Now, he's getting primed for competitions in Poland and Hungary.
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