EJ Obiena auctions off SEA Games winning shoes for Filipino kids

Gold medalist pole vault EJ Obiena with the spikes he used in his SEA Games 2023 campaign in Cambodia. –JUNE NAVARRO

Pole vault star EJ Obiena will auction off his gold-medal-winning spikes to raise money for children back home in the Philippines who practice in a sawdust pit.

World-ranked number three Obiena took his third consecutive gold at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh on Monday.

Clearing 5.65m, he broke his own SEA Games record.

LOOK: EJ Obiena is putting the customized shoes he used in Cambodia up for auction to raise funds for pole vault landing pits in Tuguegarao for kids who want to train.

"We need more pole vaulters in the Philippines," Obiena said. #SEAGames2023 📸 June Navaro pic.twitter.com/4HLKwp9NYe

— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) May 8, 2023

Afterward, the 27-year-old Obiena told reporters he had seen a video of a child pole vaulter in Tuguegarao city using sawdust to land in.

“Anyone who’s listening: it’s up for grabs,” he said, brandishing the pink-and-orange sports shoes.

“All money, all proceeds, will go to buying a new pole vault pit or a second-hand pole vault pit,” he added.

“If we can’t get actual size then we’ll get something — just not sawdust.”

The shoes could well increase in value over the next year or so, with Obiena in strong contention for a podium finish at Paris 2024.