TOKYO Olympic Games bronze medalist Felix Eumir Marcial has thrown his support behind embattled pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena.
“I’m posting this to show my support to EJ Obiena,” said Marcial in his official Facebook account yesterday.
“Masakit ito para sa atleta. Hindi pa lamang nag-simula ang Tokyo Olymics ipinakita na ni EJ ang kanyang suporta sa akin kahit mayroon din siyang problema. Ngayon ako naman ang sususporta sa yo,” the middleweight boxer and three-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist said.
Marcial was referring to his own woes with the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines last year regarding his pre-Olympic training after turning pro in July 2021.
“With the current issue surrounding my fellow Tokyo 2020 Olympian EJ Obiena, I feel that it is only right as a fellow athlete and Olympian that I express my support and collectively ask to show our solidarity with EJ,” he said.
“The decision of the Patafa committee to remove EJ from the national pool, I feel, was some sort of an invalidation of the efforts and sacrifices that EJ has made to bring honor to our country, something that every athlete can strongly relate to,” Marcial noted.
“This unfortunate situation has affected his focus in his training costing him so much of his time, energy, and resources instead of pouring all his attention to his preparations for his upcoming season and tournaments,” he stressed.
