‘Childish’ EJ finishes fifth

After failing to make the podium for the first time in a while, Ernest John Obiena didn’t have to look beyond himself for someone to blame.

“I take full responsibility for what happened in the competition. I was childish and immature,’’ Obiena said on Tuesday, after finishing fifth in a field of world-class vaulters in the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Chorzow, Poland.

The Asian champion cleared 5.62 meters in the two-hour event ruled by 2017 world champion Sam Kendricks of the United States, who registered 5.82 meters in a single try for the gold medal.

But the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) is still confident Obiena is right on track for the real goal.

“We believe that EJ is on course for the Olympics. He’s physically prepared. The thing to do now is to remain focused and not be distracted by extraneous concerns,’’ Patafa president Philip Ella Juico said.