OLYMPIAN EJ Obiena will seek to duplicate weightlifting wonder Hidilyn Diaz’s feat as he shoots for a gold medal for the Philippines as he competes in the preliminary rounds of the men’s Pole Vault event at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday.
Obiena is one of the country’s best hopes for an Olympic gold, having broken records in previous competitions.
In 2019, he became the first Filipino to qualify for the Tokyo gamesafter clearing 5.81 meters in the pole vault athletics meet in Piazza Ciari, Italy.
The former UST trackster won a gold medal in the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games held in the Philippines after clearing 5.45 meters, breaking the record set by Thailand’s Porranot Purahong during the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.
After the SEA Games, Obiena went to Italy for the Olympic qualifiers and has been training in the country before flying to Tokyo.
During his stay in Formia, Italy where he trained, Obiena participated in numerous competitions in Poland, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland to suit up for his Olympic performance.
Breaking records
Earlier this year, Obiena shattered the country’s pole vaulting record multiple times in different international competitions.
The 25-year-old athlete first set a new Philippine indoor jump record at 5.62 meter in the Karlsruhe World Indoor Tour Meeting in Karlsruhe, Germany in January.
He then broke his own record after clearing 5.80 meters at the Internationales Stadionfest Indoor athletics meet in Berlin, Germany in February.
A week after, Obiena eclipsed his record in Germany during the Orlen Indoor Cup 2021 in Poland where he leaped 5.86 meters, but only bagged a silver medal after three attempts.
After shattering his record in the Poland tilt, Obiena also became the highest leaper in Asia since 2005.
A month before the Olympics, Obiena shattered his record anew after clearing 5.87 meters during the Irena Szewińska Memorial 2021 in Bydgoszcz, Poland. The UST alumnus also bagged a silver medal after attempting to leap 5.92 meters.
“I can compete with the best of the best. I’m part of that group. I deserve to be here. I’m performing at a high level and I believe in myself that I could accomplish what I have set my goal to,” Obiena told the Varsitarian in an earlier interview.
Olympic Rivals
As of the July 20 world rankings, Obiena climbed to sixth from his 10th place in the rankings in June.
Sweden’s Armand Duplantis holds first place with 1524 points from past wins while USA’s Sam Kendricks follows behind with 1469 points.
Piotr Lisek from Poland is in third place with 1443 points, France’s Renaud Lavilliene holds fourth place with 1379 points while USA’s Christopher Nilsen sits at fifth with 1360.
During his record breaking leaps in multiple international competitions, Obiena managed to defeat reigning Olympic gold medalist Thiago Braz of Brazil twice.
Braz now sits at seventh in the world rankings, only three points behind Obiena’s 1343 score.
In June, Obiena took home gold medals after a 5.70 meter leap in the Gothenburg Athletics Grand Prix in Poland and a first attempt 5.80 meters jump in the 2021 Taby Stavhoppsgala Street Pole Vault while Braz settled for silvers.
Obiena and Braz tied for gold during the True Athletes Classics in Leverkusen, Germany after both cleared 5.80 meters.
Goal
To have a chance at a gold medal finish, Obiena needs to leap way past his record breaking 5.87 meters.
His win in Poland landed Obiena a spot in the Bauhaus-Galan Wanda Diamond League Meeting in Stockholm, Sweden, a meet preview of the Olympics.
In that game, he registered 5.82 meters and came up empty-handed after settling for fourth place while hometown bet Duplantis cleared a record-high 6.02 meters to clinch gold.
Kendricks leaped 5.92 meters in his first attempt and landed a silver while Lavilliene bagged bronze after clearing the same length in his second try.
“I know I can jump 6.0 meters. I’m not sure how I got it dialled in. I’ve seen how well I can jump, and I’ve seen what I’m capable of, and make sure that I bring that in the game,” Obiena earlier said in an interview.
Preliminary rounds for the pole vault men’s event will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium. M.E.V. Villeza
