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| EJ Obiena hints at the possibility of giving the Olympics another try in Hollywood after coming just close to a medal in Paris. From Obiena's Facebook page |
PASAY—Just as the sunlight began shining in Paris on Tuesday, EJ Obiena reflected on what had been one of the most heartbreaking finishes in his pole vaulting career.
After all the drama that took place at the Stade De France in the French capital's Saint-Denis district, Obiena had to watch from the sidelines seeing the flags of Sweden, the United States, and Greece being raised to the rafters during the awarding ceremonies instead of the Philippine flag as Asia's current pole vault king barely fell short of making the podium in the Paris Olympics men's pole vault finals.
"Fourth place is painful, to say the least; and in sports with three podium places, perhaps 4th is the harshest place to be. I am heartbroken that a single failure cost me and cost a nation I so deeply love—the podium. I apologize for this outcome; such is life as the world of competitive sports can be exhilarating at times, and painful at others. I have experienced both and unfortunately today I am on the other side of it!" Obiena said in a statement on his Facebook account.
Obiena, who was on the wrong end of the countback tiebreaker against Greek pole vaulter Emmanouil Karalis after they both cleared 5.9 meters, needed to cleanly complete a jump at 5.95 to get a shot at clinching the bronze, all the more that Karalis, who missed his first attempt at the aforementioned height, decided to go for it at six meters flat instead.
However, Obiena faulted in all his three jumps at 5.95, relegating him to fourth place and kissing his medal bid goodbye.
Despite settling for fourth, it was a huge improvement from his 11th-place finish in 2021 in Tokyo, all the more that he had to play through a back injury, although he believes it would have been sweeter with a medal in his hand.
"On a positive note, I am proud of what I was actually able to stitch together for this Olympics, with all the struggles that came with this year; but still, it hurts to be this close to an Olympic medal," said Obiena, who became the closest to give the Philippines an Olympic athletics medal since Miguel White scored a bronze in 1936.
Inspired by Carlos Yulo's golden double in gymnastics, the 28-year-old Obiena hinted that he could go for one more Olympic crack in Los Angeles in pursuit of that elusive podium finish.
“I am sorry I didn’t join him on the podium but I will be back. The good get up as they say. I have been knocked down. But I will get back up,” said Obiena who would be 32 by 2028.
Sam Kendricks showed that age does not matter as the 32-year-old American won the silver early Tuesday behind Mondo Duplantis' record-breaking performance.
Follow him on X: @IvanSaldajeno
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