By Nick Giongco
Pole vaulter EJ Obiena is zeroing in on his career as an athlete by taking a leave of absence from his engineering studies at the University of Santo Tomas, the Philippine Track and Field Association (Patafa) said.
After a disappointing performance in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games where he placed seventh overall, the 6-2 Obiena wants to make up and make heads turn when the country hosts the 2019 Southeast Asian Games later in the year.
In fact, the Obiena has been training in Doha the past few months under longtime coach Vitaly Petrov of Ukraine, who helped guide the likes of Olympic and world champions Sergey Bubka and Yelena Isinbayeva and reigning Olympic champion Thiago Braz da Silva.
Obiena used to spend some time with Petrov in Formia, Italy, but Petrov has relocated to Doha and Obiena had no choice but to follow the revered coach.
Obiena’s best leap is 5.61 meters but he hasn’t been doing well as of late but is moving heaven and earth to make a rousing comeback in time for the SEAG.
In the 2015 SEAG in Singapore, Obiena settled for silver and was a cinch to win the gold two years later when the biennial sportsfest was hosted by Singapore.
But on the eve of his departure for Singapore, Obiena suffered an ACL injury that kept him out of the event.
Patafa head Philip Juico is not losing hope on Obiena, who holds the national record of 5.51 meters, a mark superior than the gold medal winning 5.35 meters registered by Thailand’s Porranot Purahong in the 2017 SEAG.
