Ernest John “EJ” Obiena has erased self-doubts on his capabilities as he remained as Asia’s no. 1 pole vaulter.
The 25-year-old Obiena said he has regained confidence in himself after shattering the Asian record and then breaking the national mark twice since the recent Tokyo Olympics.
“It means a lot to me, more than anything else. It means a lot to me,” said Obiena following his recent success over the weekend on the program, “Power and Play.”
Obiena may have fallen a notch no. 6 in the world rankings, but he stayed on as Asia’s top pole vault bet with 1373 points,
This was a position that Obiena has managed to keep since overtaking Japanese bet Seito Yamamoto of Japan back in September 2019, when the Filipino competed in Chiari, Italy.
Obiena’s status was unmoved in the Asian rankings even if there were changes recently.
Since the Tokyo Olympics, Yamamoto has climbed back to the no. 2 position with 1224 points following his 14th place finish in the qualification, dislodging China’s Bokai Huang, who dropped to no. 6.
Another Japanese Kosei Takekawa also progressed in his Asian ranking, and is now at third place, followed by Masaki Ejima and Korean Minsub Jin.
“I had some doubts after what happened in Tokyo. You ask yourself sometimes, am I actually able to do what I set out to do,” added Obiena.
After finishing tied at 11th place at the end of his competition in the Tokyo Games, Obiena made heads turn twice.
First was when Obiena went past past 5.9 meters and cleared 5.91 meters for fifth place during the Paris leg of the Diamond League on August 28.
The second time came when he leapt to a height of 5.93 meters at the 2021 Golden Roof Challenge in Innsbruck Austria last Sept. 11.
“The biggest competition was Tokyo, and it was not pleasant. Therefore, I really needed this badly. I really wanted to do it. I knew I can do it,” remarked Obiena.
With competitions over for the year, Obiena will remain in Formia, Italy until he is able to leave the country safely.
Travel restrictions in Italy and lack of venues to train in the Philippines is keeping Obiena from returning home.
Instead, the 6’2” Obiena will remain longer in Italy to prepare for the coming Southeast Asian Games and other international meets next year.