EJ Obiena still mulling what’s next after Paris Olympics

EJ Obiena of the Philippines misses his final attempt in the men’s pole vault final at the Paris Olympics 2024, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

MANILA, Philippines—EJ Obiena has a lot of thinking to do after a failed medal bid at the Paris Olympics.

Tipped to make the podium in his return to the Summer Games, Obiena came up short and finished fourth–an unlikely result that sent the World No. 2 pole vaulter back to the drawing board.

“My goal right now is to hopefully hold my world ranking. We’ll see. I still don’t know exactly where I’m going to be placed after this, we’ll see how it goes. There’s a few competitions still lined up for me this season. We’ll deliberate, regroup and try to understand the possibilities of all of these,” said Obiena in a virtual press conference on Wednesday.

READ: EJ Obiena apologizes for missing out on Paris Olympics medal

“It really depends. We’re still figuring it out. It’s a long work. We’ll see what’s next for me,” added Obiena, who also revealed he dealt with spinal issues leading up to the Games.

Obiena, the Asian record holder at 6.00m, found the 5.95m bar insurmountable after three botched attempts at State de France on Tuesday as Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis took home the bronze via countback.

After a couple of empty trips in the Olympics, which includes an 11th-place finish in Tokyo, the 28-year-old Obiena, of course, can still try and make another run at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

READ: EJ Obiena narrowly misses pole vault medal in Paris Olympics

But that’s if Obiena decides to pursue that route as he remains undecided for now.

“l don’t want to go and say we’re going right away, this and that. If l don’t truly feel that and if I don’t truly comprehend the sacrifices that I need to make, I don’t want to be in LA and just be in LA,” said Obiena.

“If I’m going to do that, l’m going to go all out.”