Paris on EJ’s mind

World No. 3 pole vaulter EJ Obiena said yesterday he can’t live down his 11th place finish at the Tokyo Olympics last year and only a glowing performance in the 2024 Paris Games will end the nightmare forever. “I won’t make the same mistakes,” said Obiena, speaking from his girlfriend Caroline Joyeux’s home in Berlin during a break in his rigorous competition schedule. “We still don’t know the qualifying standard for Paris. It could be 5.8 or 5.85 or whatever. If you’re ranked top five in the world, you should be able to qualify because you wouldn’t be in the top five without doing 5.8 or 5.85 or whatever is the qualifying standard. There will be lots of competitions next year to do it in our region, the SEA Games, Asian Games and the Asian Championships.”

Obiena, 26, said competing in six meets the last two weeks isn’t normal but he’s had to work double time to make up for losing points when PATAFA withheld its endorsement to participate as a national athlete. The biggest blow was Obiena’s failure to secure PATAFA’s go-signal to vault at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Belgrade last March. “Right now, I’m chasing points so that’s why I’m doing the continental tour and Diamond League at the same time,” he said. “There’s a Diamond League by-invitation-only competition in Zurich coming up and I still don’t know if I’ll be invited. If I’m not, I’ll have two more competitions before taking a break next week. One competition is the Golden Fly in Liechtensein on Sept. 11.”

Landing a podium finish has become a habit lately for Obiena. In two weeks, he went six-of-six with four golds, a silver and a bronze. The highlight was when he claimed the gold and relegated World No. 1 Mondo Duplantis to second spot at the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels. His winning clearance was 5.91 meters, below his personal best of 5.94. Obiena clinched the gold on his third try, slightly touching the bar but not hard enough to topple it. In a previous interview, Obiena called Duplantis a unicorn. “Mondo is a once in a lifetime kind of generational talent,” said Obiena. “He’s a good person, humble and authentic and a great role model for the sport.”

Obiena pointed to several factors contributing to his surge. “More and more Filipinos are showing up wherever I compete, especially in Europe,” he said. “In one competition, a group came holding up a Philippine flag even before I started my warm-ups. They’re a big reason why I do my best because I can’t let down my countrymen. Then, I was relieved when PATAFA reinstated me. I’m grateful to Sir Terry (Capistrano, PATAFA president) for always staying in touch and making sure everything is fine. I also continue to reach out to my sports psychologist (San Francisco-based Filipina Dr. Sheryll Casuga) to keep me mentally strong.”

Breaching six meters remains a goal. “Coach Vitaliy (Petrov) is convinced this will be a good year,” he said. “When I cleared 5.94, I actually went over six statistically. I know I can do it and it will come.” Obiena hopes to become the 26th pole vaulter in the world and the first in Asia to breach six meters. Ukrainian Sergey Bubka was the first to accomplish the feat in 1985 and World No. 2 Chris Nilsen was the latest to do it this year.