The work has begun for top filipino pole vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena in his bid to qualify, compete and emerge victorious in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Already blessed with a battery of world-class coaches, Obiena wants a complete, all-out “Team Obiena” that will work full throttle towards his goal—win a medal, possibly gold in the Olympics.
In a post on his social media account, Obiena is seeking a “capable and motivated personal assistant to be part of our winning team.”
The Asian champion and record holder said the PA’s role “will play a critical part on Team Obiena, coordinating among the various members of the team (coaches, sponsors, agents, etc.) as well as representing the athlete for key responsibilities and tasks required in Manila.”
But he/she will also be required to travel extensively in various parts of the world, especially in Europe, where Obiena is training and competing.
The ideal candidate, according to the post, should possess the following:
• A college graduate, based in Manila. The role is location-free
• Articulate and fully fluent in Filipino and English.
• IT literate with a strong command of Excel, PowerPoint, Word.
• Good command of financial management and facts and figures.
• Strong interpersonal skills; able to build relationships. This role will require interfacing with various sports officials and organizations.
Applicants may send their resume with a cover letter to hrobiena@yahoo.com.
Having a complete team has proven to be the perfect recipe for success, like Hidilyn Diaz who won the country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal with her triumph in women’s weightlifting.
She heaped praises to the men and women behind her Team HD, composed of Chinese coach Gao Kaiwan for the overall strategy, strength, and conditioning coach Julius Naranjo, nutritionist Jeaneth Aro and sports psychologist Karen Trinidad.
Obiena is training with world-renowned mentor Vitaly Petrov, conditioning coach James Michael Lafferty and nutritionist Carol Lafferty.
With a personal best of 5.87 meters, he competed for the first time in the Olympics this year in Tokyo, but breaks didn’t go his way as he missed the medal round. Still, it was a decent performance even as he failed to clear the 5.8-meter bar in the finals.
Armand Duplantis won the gold when he cleared 6.02 in his first attempt, while American Chris Nilsen came in at second for silver.
Brazil’s Thiago Braz, Obiena’s longtime training partner in Italy, settled for the bronze after only clearing 5.87 meters, which was the Filipino’s personal best at that time.
The athletes who won medals are within striking distance of Obiena’s latest personal best.
Last September 12 in Austria, Obiena set a new Asian record in the pole vault when he soared to his best vault of 5.93 meters at the International Golden Roof Challenge to top the tournament.
“I still know I can win. I will be back, and I will be back to win,” said Obiena in a recent interview.