GIRDING for his second Olympic appearance, ace pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena is likely to open his 2024 season by competing in the World Athletics Indoor Championships scheduled from March 1 to 3 in Glasgow, Scotland, according to new athletics secretary general Jasper Tanhueco.
“All I can confirm is that EJ has qualified to compete in the world athletics indoor championships in Glasgow from March 1 to 3. March 3 is the date of the pole vault event,” said Tanhueco in a chat message to a group of sports scribes.
Obiena has been training in Formia, Italy since November following his golden triumph in the Hangzhou Asian Games, setting a new Asian Games record of 5.90 meters while snapping a 27-year dry spell since sprint legend Lydia de Vega ruled the women’s century dash in the 1986 Seoul Asiad.
He had a short break in Manila after the Asian Games but decided to return home to his training camp in the Italian port city to resume his Olympic build-up with famed Ukrainian coach Vitali Petrov, also the mentor of compatriot and Olympic and world champion Sergey Bubka.
In a year marked by numerous achievements, the lanky pride of Tondo likewise emerged as the first Filipino athlete to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games after securing a silver medal with a jump of six meters flat anew in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary last August.
In accepting his award online as the Philippine Sportswriters Association Athlete of the Year at the recent PSA Awards Night at the Diamond Hotel ballroom, Obiena said his goal was to narrow the gap between him and reigning world and Olympic champion Armand Duplantis of Sweden.
“I want to be stronger, faster and go a little bit higher than last year,” Obiena, now ranked No. 2 in the world in his pet event, said.
“If things go and fall into place, it (the training) should put me closer to the world No. 1 (Duplantis) and give me a better chance. This is all I can ask for. This is what I am doing right now,” added the athlete.
