AFTER a dismal Olympic debut by his own standards, pole vaulter Ernest John Obienahas found himself at the crossroads of his athletic career.
“Hindi ko pa po alam kung ano ang gagawin ko,” Obienasaid yesterday, a day after his 11th place finish in the Tokyo Olympics men’s pole vault event with a jump of 5.70 meters at the Japan National Stadium.
“My plan is to talk today to my coach (Vitaly Petrov) regarding what happened and we move forward from there and see what we will be doing,” he added in online press conference organized by the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association from Tokyo.
Swedish-American Mondo Duplantis lived up to his billing as the top favorite, clinching the gold medal with a jump of 6.02 meters, American Chris Nielsen settled for the silver (5.97m) while defending Olympic champion Tiago Braz was relegated to the bronze (5.87m).
Notable was the fact that Braz’s jump of 5.87 meters matched the national record of Obiena, joined in the press conference by sprinter Kristina Knott, who bowed out early in the women’s 200-meter last Monday.
“I really don’t know what I am going to do yet — if I still want to compete, to do this or that. Kung bagahindi pa ayos, wala pa akosalugarngayon,” explained the athlete.
Except for occasional visits to Manila for brief vacations, he has practically lived the last five years at the World Athletics elite training camp in Formia, Italy while competing on the European Circuit in his bid to compete in the Tokyo Olympics.
This explained why he remained non-committal about going through the grueling grind all over again — for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Obiena said he was not his usual self during the finals.
“I was not just feeling my usual self, basically. I don’t know if it’s the pressure or something with my technique. I don’t know if it was physical. If I knew it, I would have been able to adjust,” he said. “All throughout the competition I don’t believe I was in control the way I jumped.
“It was more like following what the pole asked me to do, which is very unusual since I haven’t felt like this for quite some time now.”
Knott viewed her brief Olympic stint as “half-glass full,” adding that she intends to take a break once she gets back to the US then resume training to compete again.
Knott said she is looking forward to competing next year in the world indoor championships, Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games, vowing to bounce back from her lackluster showing in Tokyo.
She said her enthusiasm remained undiminished, adding she intends to make another run for the Paris Games.
