By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
There are only 24 pole vaulters who have sailed over the 6-meter barrier and EJ Obiena is determined to become the 25th as he seeks for more sporting glory in the coming months.
“There’s a lot of things I wanna do in the sport. It’s a great motivator to move forward, to keep doing what I do. I’m still happy to win the bronze medal but missing 6 meters is like yeah, there’s something I still needed to do,” said Obienna during Tuesday’s online press briefing.
“There are only 24 people who have reached that 6-meter mark and I want to be the 25th.”
Still in euphoria following a breakthrough performance at the World Athletics Championships where he won for the country its first medal – a bronze – the 26-year-old Obiena is set to compete in two major European tournaments next month.
First is the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzow, Poland on Aug. 6 where Obiena, ranked No. 6 in the world, will go up against almost the same stellar cast, including newly-minted world champion Mondo Duplantis of Sweden.
But his main agenda is to get back at American Chris Nilsen the very player who beat him for the silver. Both cleared 5.94 meters but Nilsen took the silver after beating Obiena on a countback.
The Polish meet is part of the prestigious Wanda Diamond League Meet.
Up next will be the Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix in Szekesfehervar, Hungary on Aug. 8.
His appetite whetted by a record-breaking performance, Obiena said he has to double his effort and prepare as hard as he can knowing full well that competition is likewise getting intense and fiercer.
“It’s getting tough. It’s a bit of a contrasting spectrum of emotions. I’m very happy that the sport is progressing, happy that I’m part of the era where the level of pole vaulting is in such a high level, but at the same time, it just shows I need to work a lot harder to reach the things I wanna do and to win championships that I want to win,” added Obiena.
His mission is to strike again in the Paris Games.
“That’s the plan. That’s definitely what I want to achieve,” he said.
“Mondo (Duplantis) is definitely a force to be respected, to be reckoned with, and Chris (Nilsen) is a competitor, and everybody else in the field, so if it’s gonna be a medal (in Paris Olympics), I can’t say. Hopefully it will be a better case in Paris.”
