POLE vaulter Ernest John Obiena aims to move on from his dismal outing in the 24th World Indoor Athletics Championships in Glasgow, Scotland recently and is now focused on his build-up for the Paris Olympic Games opening in July.
“This (the indoor season) was not the goal this year, the goal is still Paris 2024 so we move on,” Obiena said yesterday in an online press conference where he was introduced as the newest endorser of Team Visa.
“Unfortunately, the human side of me showed two days ago and I was not able to showcase what I believe I could do. But that is the reality of sports,” added Obiena, who finished a woeful ninth in the world indoor meet with his only clear jump of 5.65 meters.
“I need to be more prepared, although I knew it would be a gamble competing in Glasgow,” said Obiena, who partly attributed his poor stint to the prolonged outdoor season in 2024 that ended with the Hangzhou Asian Games last October.
“This is no excuse for my performance. I take full responsibility for placing ninth (in the world indoor meet). I made my decision. I am upset because I knew we could win but now we want to move on,” he said.
“The indoor season was not our main priority. As we said earlier, we are still hitting the right marks that we believe we should and our focus is Paris,” he stressed.
“There are still a few more months to go before the Olympics and so it should be interesting come that (Olympic) day,” he pointed out.
He revealed that his first outdoor competition will be the Los Angeles Grand Prix on May 18.
Obiena said that he felt honored and privileged to be part of the select Visa athletic family composed of 117 athletes from all over the world.