WHILE exuberant over qualifying for the second straight time in the Olympics, Ernest John Obiena admitted he needs to improve further to be a serious challenger to Swedish superstar and reigning Olympic champion Armand Duplantis.
“Punched my ticket for @paris2024 here in @bauhausgalan AKA Stockholm Diamond League and a (silver) place finish,” Obiena said on his official Facebook account after his silver-medal jump of 5.82 meters in the Bauhaus Galan meet at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium in Stockholm, Sweden the other day.
His jump matched the Olympic qualifying standard, making him the first Filipino athlete anew to book a spot in the quadrennial global sports showcase next year in Paris. He was also the first Pinoy athlete to qualify for the Olympics, where he finished a disappointing 11th.
Inspired by the hometown crowd, Duplantis, also the world championship king, cleared 6.05 meters to clinch his fifth straight meet gold in the venue of the 2012 Stockholm Olympics.
The Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association congratulated Obiena in a statement issued late Monday.
“On behalf of President Terry Capistrano and the Patafa, we congratulate EJ Obiena for securing the Paris Olympic slot for pole vault in his first competition during the Olympic qualification window,” it said.
“We hope EJ’s achievement as the first Filipino to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics will inspire other Filipino athletes in athletics. We are delighted that EJ can now focus on preparing for the Olympics,” the statement added.
Aware that the phenomenal Swede is the standard of excellence that he had to reach, Obiena stressed that “we continue the work as we still have lots to do. Made some rookie mistakes yesterday. It just shows I am still a student of the game.”
He cited Dubai-based businessman and conditioning coach James Lafferty for being there to witness his performance that booked him another Olympics slots.
“Special thanks to my mentor and great friend @jamesmichaellafferty for flying out to Stockholm to see me jump over some sticks,” the athlete said.
Obiena is expected to take a short break before resuming training with Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov at their home base in Formia, Italy for the 24th Asian Athletic Championships kicking off on July 12 at the Supachasai National Stadium in Pattaya, Thailand.
He will go for his second straight gold in the Asian meet after clinching top honors with a jump of 5.71 meters the last time the competition was held in Doha, Qatar in 2019.
