Filipino pole-vaulter EJ Obiena just broke the new federal listing (again): He discussions Tokyo Olympics, Mondo Duplantis, and you can impression brand new like about Philippines within our exclusive chat.
EJ Obiena is smiling as he pops up to your videocall. “Disappointed, was only undertaking my personal Covid take to,” according to him, “it’s negative, thus that’s good news.”
Private! EJ Obiena kits places to your Philippines’ earliest ever before Olympic silver: “This is the goal”
It’s the most recent very good news from inside the a stronger stream of an excellent news for EJ whoever incredible indoor season has given solution to an incredible outdoor 12 months towards Tokyo 2020 Olympic Online game just weeks away.
Obiena keeps a couple of times busted federal suggestions and you may catapulted themselves into the upper podium more world winner Sam Kendricks and you can Olympic silver medallist Thiago Braz.
Towards the Obiena set a unique Filipino record of 5.85m, profitable new Dive and you may Fly race within the Mossingen, Germany, one to draw surpassed his or her own number of five.81 that he place in in the Chiari, Italy – a dot one produced your the first Filipino 
so you’re able to be eligible for Tokyo 2020.
The new Olympic postponement gave Obiena annually working much harder and you may go higher and from now on he or she is climbing gradually to the magic 6m draw, putting himself on reckoning into the podium on rescheduled in the summertime off 2021.
So it pole vaulter ‘s the pride out of Filipino track-and-field which will be within the no doubt from the their objective on Tokyo Games:
“Profit this new silver, that’s it man. Which is an extremely difficult purpose to reach, but that’s the target. For this reason I’m doing all this, not to ever score second and not to get third. to help you victory they.” – EJ Obiena
Is Obiena do so he’d get to be the earliest actually ever Filipino so you’re able to winnings a keen Olympic silver medal, forever composing his name on Olympic lore from a country excited about sport.
Keep reading for it private interviews into Philippine eagle, regarding his Olympic aims to this new Filipino eating the guy misses (Like fresh coconut drinking water, mangoes and you may Jollibbee!), just how Covid nearly made him surrender and you can go home, and his awesome 75-year-old mentor Vitaly Petrov exactly who sure your to store going.
We and discover how the guy looks after their mental health far from home, the latest members of the family they are produced, his spouse who’s and a runner, therefore the overwhelming assistance he feels of Filipinos far and wide.
How large can also be EJ Obiena go?
5.62m (5th) on Karlsruhe World Interior Tour, 5.80m (1st) during the ISTAF Berlin, 5.68m (1st) for the Dortmund, 5.60m (5th) at WA interior Concert tour Silver when you look at the Lievin, 5.86m (2nd) at Orlen Glass within the Lodz, 5.80m (3rd) during the Copernicus Glass, Torun.
Now he has his places seriously interested in this new Western record from 5.93, however for EJ it isn’t all about the fresh quantity.
“So i get this peak objective level that i should get to but at the same time not all battle presents the newest window of opportunity for you to definitely build you to club, you understand. Regarding race, I notice regarding the newest club which is set right now.
“Starting competition, when you consider this new checklist and somebody jumps over that number, you happen to be basically such as for instance, oh s. I must diving greater than you to definitely?
“So i thought the best types of mindset starting competition is just that we must be the guy which jumps more than the remainder job. We work at effective this new matches.”
Their outdoor season began remarkably when he cleaned 5.80 so you can ideal the fresh podium in Summer, he then cleaned that Olympic standard once again on 2021 FBK Online game on the Netherlands, in which he stepped-up into podium trailing only Mondo, exactly who cleaned 6.10m.
