Tokyo Olympics

Once his dad’s, EJ Obiena made the Olympic dream his own

Beatrice Go

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Once his dad’s, EJ Obiena made the Olympic dream his own

OWN DREAM. EJ Obiena aims to win on the biggest stage of sports.

Athit Perawongmetha/REUTERS

'I think it's a journey not just for my dad. It's also for me,' says Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena

Ernest John “EJ” Obiena grew up in a family of athletics standouts, but the one who inspired him the most was his dad – former national record holder Emerson Obiena.

His dad dreamt of competing in the Olympics, which was achieved by the younger Obiena when he saw action in the men’s pole vault final of the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday, August 3.

But more than fulfilling his father’s dream, Obiena ultimately called it his own.

“I’m very happy to be able to fulfill that on his behalf, and he’s part of this journey. He’s been part of my story of becoming an Olympian. I’m happy to say that finally I am,” said Obiena.

“But at the same time, right now, I think it’s a journey not just for my dad. It’s also for me.”

Growing up watching his dad – a silver medalist in the 1995 Southeast Asian Games and bronze medalist in the 2005 Manila Games – compete for the Philippines, it inspired him to take up the sport when he was six years old.

Like his dad, Obiena fell in love with pole vaulting and was also a prodigy as he eventually surpassed his dad’s 4.95m-mark in 2014, opening the door for him to train in Formia, Italy with multi-titled coach Vitaly Petrov.

But to deal with the pressure and challenges that comes with his bid to become one of the best in the world, Obiena had to embrace it all himself.

“There’s a lot of influence coming from my dad, indirectly. He never pushed me to do it, but as a Filipino son, born and raised in the Philippines, you subconsciously want to have your dad be proud of you one way or another,” shared Obiena.

“Now, he has always been happy of me jumping PRs (personal records) over PR, but it was never something that was mine, I would say until it came to a point that I need to decide if I would want it and certainly the weight of the sport suddenly feels different.”

The 25-year-old pole vaulter was the first Filipino to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, and entered the Games with a world No. 6 ranking.

In his maiden Olympic appearance, he failed to clear the 5.80m mark and finished 11th in the final that was dominated by world record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden, who Obiena regularly competes with.

In an Instagram post after the final, Obiena had hoped for a better performance, but he promised he would be back to achieve that goal of winning in the Olympic Games.

“The facts of the matter are simple: I still love the sport of pole vaulting. I still love representing my great country. I still love competing. I still know I can win,” wrote Obiena.

“You can draw your own conclusions from this. I will be back, and I will be back to win.”

Setting boundaries

Emerson was EJ’s first coach until the younger Obiena came under the wings of Petrov, who has trained pole vault great Sergio Bubka and 2016 Rio gold medalist Thiago Braz of Brazil, who bagged the bronze in Tokyo.

But the older Obiena continued to be a big part of his son’s journey and never left the close circle of mentors despite being miles and timezones away from each other.

Both father and son, though, admitted that it’s difficult, yet vital to set boundaries as the athlete-coach and familial relationships tend to overlap.

“I think we talked yesterday [after the final], he was telling me about the cues, he was telling me about the technique, and I remember just setting it out yesterday that it wasn’t that, it wasn’t the technique, I gave everything that I can, and I can make peace with that, I wasn’t able to do my best, but I gave it all,” said EJ.

Emerson shared that the struggle becomes more evident during the low points of his son’s career like when he picked up an ACL injury a day before leaving for the 2017 Kuala Lumpur Games.

As a coach, he had to keep his composure, even though he knows how frustrating the situation is being a former athlete.

“Like other coaches, [when the athlete gets] disappointed or frustrated or agitated, even if deep inside you know you felt like that. We cannot show it to [the athlete]. More like, I cannot show it to my son,” said Emerson.

“It’s difficult to put a divider – being a father and being a coach, it would really overlap. Hindi tayo robots eh (We’re not robots).”

Emerson, though, remains proud that his son qualified for the Olympics after overcoming potentially career-ending challenges.

“But I’m very very proud that he was able to conquer and be able to bounce back.” – Rappler.com

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Beatrice Go

More commonly known as Bee, Beatrice Go is a multimedia sports reporter for Rappler, who covers Philippine sports governance, national teams, football, and the UAAP. Stay tuned for her news and features on Philippine sports and videos like the Rappler Athlete’s Corner and Rappler Sports Timeout.