'Injury-free' Obiena ready to soar in Olympic pole vault medal quest

PARIS – The Philippines’ Ernest John Obiena shoots for a place in the finals of the pole vault competitions as he plunges into action in the 31-man qualifying round field starting at 10 a.m. (4 p.m. Philippine time) Saturday at the Stade de France.

Obiena has been dealing with lingering back issues since 2022, which have raised concerns about his readiness for the Olympics. Despite the pain, his confidante Jim Lafferty and Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president Terry Capistrano express optimism about his recovery.

“He’s handling it properly and it’s being attended to. He should be okay,” said Capistrano. “He has a physician with him, an Italian physiotherapist, who’s part of the team. And Dr. Raul Canlas is also here. Whatever it is, as far as I know, it’s manageable.”

Obiena's longtime physiotherapist Antonio Guglietta has confirmed that the athlete is currently injury-free. 

With his impressive track record, the world’s No. 2 Obiena is considered a strong contender for a medal in Paris, having leaped 6 meters twice on June 10, 2023, at the Sparebanken Vest Bergen Jump Challenge in Norway and on August 26, 2023, at the World Championship, where he clinched the silver.

However, Capistrano cautions against underestimating the competition, pointing out that any of the top 10 pole vaulters could achieve a podium finish, and world record holder Armand Duplantis is the clear favorite for breaking the world record an impressive eight times. His most recent record-smasher was a stunning 6.24 meters achieved at the Diamond League meet in Xiamen, China.

But World No. 1 Duplantis is just one of Obiena’s worries as the men's pole vault field in Paris is stacked with talent, such as Sam Kendricks (US, 6.06), Piotr Lisek (Poland, 6.02), Obiena (6.0), Cris Nielsen (US, 6.05) and Duplantis, all of whom have breached 6 meters.

The competition is expected to be fierce, with several other athletes capable of clearing heights of 5.9 meters or above, including Kurtis Marschall (Australia), Thibaut Collet (France), Ersu Sasma (Turkey) and Jacob Wooten (USA).