DON’T write off Ernest John Obiena just yet.
The Filipino Olympian pole vaulter was back in vintage form early yesterday (Saturday in Europe), soaring to a new national mark of 5.91 meters in a strong runner-up finish to Tokyo Olympic Games gold medalist Armand Duplantis of Sweden at the Wanda Diamond League stop in Paris, France.
Competing before a banner crowd at the Charlety Stadium, Obiena did the feat with his first and only jump at the height, clinging briefly to the lead before the sensational Swede wrested the gold by clearing 6.01 meters on his initial try. Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Chris Nielsen was third with a leap of 5.81m.
It was a new benchmark for Obiena, who reset his national record of 5.87 meters set last July when he won a silver medal in the Irina Szwewinska Memorial meet in Bydgoszcz, Poland, and an auspicious comeback from his 11th place finish in the Tokyo Games where he had a mediocre jump of 5.70 meters.
Obiena beat his breast with both fists, applauded to the gallery, then pointed his right hand upwards in jubilation immediately after his accomplishment, which also netted him $6,000 (P300,000), the runner-up prize, on top of the silver medal.
“I badly needed this!” the athlete exclaimed in his Instagram account afterwards.
His athletic career appeared to be on the crossroads with his lackluster performance in Tokyo more than three weeks ago, casting doubts on whether he still had the drive to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics
The new national mark cemented Obiena’s spot in the World Athletic Championships set July 15 to 24, 2022 in Eugene, Oregon. He exceeded the qualifying mark of 5.81 meters to assure himself of a second straight trip to the blue-ribbon meet after seeing action at the 2019 edition in Doha, Qatar.
“Proud, proud, proud!” German triple jumper and sprinter Caroline Joyeux posted on her Instagram account in acknowledging her boyfriend’s new milestone.
Obiena came back strong from his sub-par outing in the Athletissima meet, a part of the prestigious Diamond League series in Lausanne, Switzerland last Thursday (Friday in Manila) where he and Duplantis placed fifth (5.52) and fourth (5.62), respectively.“We are extremely happy with EJ Obiena’s latest record-breaking performance in Paris,” athletics chief Philip Ella Juico said after witnessing the athlete’s performance on video streaming.
“You may not always win gold or silver but you can always raise the bar on your performance, so to speak.
“The huge crowd watching the competitions could have fueled the adrenaline he needed to succeed.”
“Everything fell into place for EJ,” observed Obiena’s father and national pole vault coach, Emerson, who also watched the video of his son’s superlative performance in the wee hours of the morning.
“His (Obiena’s) warm-up was bad so he began at the lower height so he would be able to feel his pole,” the elder Obiena said, explaining why his son began jumping at 5.45 meters, a height that EJ usually skipped in previous meets.
“Kasi matagal-tagal din siyang hindi nag-laro ulit. So, he gradually progressed (through the lower heights). From there, inaatras at inaatras niya ‘yung marker niya hanggang makuha niya ‘yung proper spot para mag-takeoff,” the coach explained.
“Kung maayos ‘yung runway (execution) mo, may domino effect ‘yan. Gaganda ‘yung movement sa itaas, nakuha niya ‘yung timing ng talon niya.”
He also noted that the fact that the site of his son’s latest achievement was in Paris, where the next Olympics will be held three years from now, “so magandang senyales po ‘yan kay EJ.”
