Two-track and field athletes named Emerson and Jeanette Obiena welcomed their offspring named Ernest John Uy Obiena, a.k.a. EJ Obiena, on November 17, 1995, in Tondo, Manila, Philippines.
EJ unsurprisingly inherited his athletic personality from his parents as he started to take pole vaulting at the age of 8, yet, he initially invested himself in doing hurdles with his father, Emerson, who served as his coach. He took his secondary education at Chiang Kai Shek College, where he competed in various matches in 100 and 400-meter hurdles.
However, this particular path is not for him as he could not meet the regional qualifications. He then shifted back to pole vaulting in his final year in high school to ensure a scholarship in college. He then took Electronics Engineering at the University of Santo Tomas, where he was qualified to represent the university in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).
In 2014, EJ had a chance to interact with a Ukrainian pole vaulter, Sergey Bubka, who informed him of an opportunity to train in Italy under the same coach, Vitaly Petrov. Later that year, Obiena registered 5.01 meters and beat the national record for pole vaulting, which Edward Lasquete previously held at 5.00 meters. He was able to beat his record to 5.21 meters that year. EJ represented the Philippines in the 2015 Southeast Asian Game when he beat his record, registering 5.25, and won a silver medal.
In 2016, EJ won a gold medal during the Philippine National Games Finals in Lingayen, Pangasinan, at a 5.47-meter record. That same year, he held the Philippine national record for pole vaulting registering 5.55 meters during the 78th Singapore Open Championships in Kallang, Singapore.
EJ ranked 31st globally in 2017. He was supposedly the representative of the Philippines in the 2017 SEA Games, but the scariest circumstance for an athlete happened. He was doing his final vault in preparation, but his landing was not properly executed, causing him to tear his ACL; he missed the SEA Games. Yet, his grit was ignited with more determination. He had knee surgery and rehabilitation to recover from his injury.
In his comeback in 2019, Obiena broke the Asian Athletics Championships record when he could do 5.71 meters during the 23rd Biennial Meet at Doha, Qatar. He also obtained another gold medal during the 2019 Summer Universiade when he set a new record of 5.76. Later that year, in September, EJ Obiena was the first Filipino athlete to be qualified in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after beating the 5.80 meters requirement for men pole vaulters. He was able to break his record by 5.81 meters in Piazza Chiari, Italy.
In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Obiena, the only last Asian standing, was able to be at 11th place among his strong competitors with his 5.70m mark after three attempts. He also ranked 6th worldwide. On September 12, Obiena set a new record in Asia registering, 5.93 meters during the International Golden Roof Challenge in Innsbruck, Austria.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Written by: Romuel Sulit
Layout and Design by: Gerald Reyes
References:
Comments