CEBU CITY. – Unlike the Tokyo Olympic Games three years ago, Emerson Obiena, the father-coach of pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena, and wife Jeanette will play a secondary role in their son’s campaign in the Paris Summer Games opening on June 26 in the French capital.
“We will be there as supportive parents,” the elder Obiena, who is coaching some pole vault athletes in the Palarong Pambansa here, said in a chance interview.
Emerson, the national pole vault coach, was by his son’s side as a deputy to Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov in Tokyo in 2021, where the younger Obiena finished in a tie for 11th place.
Zeroed in on his Olympic medal aspirations, the lanky athlete decided to skip the Philippine Olympic team’s training camp in Metz, France to train on his own at the Normandy Sports Center.
“Me and my wife Jeannette are willing to give my son the needed space so he can fully concentrate on his medal campaign,” said the elder Obiena, keenly aware of the pressure his son is handling as one of the country’s top medal contenders in Paris.
“However, should EJ need my help, will always be there,” added the elder Obiena, who will leave on Aug. 1 with his wife, two days before the men’s pole vault qualifiers at the Stade de France.
A keen student of the pole vault game, the coach said he considers two-time American world champion Sam Kendricks as the major threat to reigning world and Olympic champ Mondo Duplantis — and his son’s biggest medal challenge outside of the sensational Swede.
He also expressed confidence that his son would do better than in Tokyo in 2021 “because he has prepared very well for the Paris Olympics. We are happy if he should win. Let’s wait and see.”
Kendricks is keen on finally seeing action in the Olympics after he was sidelined by the COVID-19 virus when he was already in the Land of the Rising Sun and poised to see action.
The American finished second behind Duplantis in the last Wanda Diamond League leg recently at the Bercy Arena in Paris with a jump of 5.95 meters.
“Kendricks is a top threat to Mondo since he wants to redeem himself after failing to compete in the Olympics in Tokyo due to COVID-19. His military background gives him the discipline and dedication for it,” said the elder Obiena, referring to the American, a first lieutenant in the US Army reserve force.
