Bronze medalist EJ Obiena of Team Philippines poses during the medal ceremony for the Men’s Pole Vault on day ten of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 at Hayward Field on July 24, 2022 in Eugene, Oregon. Steph Chambers/Getty Images/AFP
MANILA, Philippines—With the Paris Olympics still two years away, EJ Obiena isn’t guaranteeing anything, let alone a medal.
But make no mistake, Obiena is hellbent on winning an Olympic medal—which would be another first for the Philippines in pole vault.
“That’s the plan, that’s definitely what I want to achieve,” Obiena said on delivering a medal at the Paris Games.
Obiena just showed he has what it takes to reach such grand feat after recently winning a historic bronze medal at the World Athletics Championships.
“I think it just solidified what I already know and capable of which is competing with the best in the world,” Obiena said.
Pitted against other top pole vaulters in the world, Obiena issued a stern warning to the rest of the field after finishing third behind world record holder Mondo Duplantis and Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Chris Nilsen.
Nilsen, competing before a home crowd at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, USA, narrowly beat Obiena as he seized the silver via countback.
But the 26-year-old Obiena knows he may have to move mountains in Paris considering the kind of challenge he had to overcome just to win a bronze at the worlds.
“To make the final you need to jump 75 (5.75m) which had never happened in a world championship before. It’s getting tough,” Obiena admitted.
“It’s a bit of, I think, a contrasting spectrum of emotion. I’m very happy that the sport is progressing and I’m very happy to be in the era where pole vaulting is at such a high level, but at the same time, it just shows that, yeah I need to work harder to reach the things I wanna do.”
Obiena may not have offered any promises, but there was no lack of belief either.
“But definitely, I just proved to myself that I can compete with these guys and I can win.”