EJ Obiena Impressive ends the 17 win winning streak of Duplantis

Last Updated on October 2, 2022 by Andrew Pirie

EJ Obiena Finally Beats Duplantis

09/02/2022

Belgium (AFP) – After suffering a rare defeat at Friday’s Diamond League match in Brussels, Armand “Mondo” Duplantis pledged to put any risk of complacency on hold.

At 5.91 meters, Duplantis failed three times, finally collapsing to the ground on his third failed attempt while staring in horrified disbelief.

Due to how dominant Duplantis had been in his event, EJ Obiena of the Philippines passed at the same height on the third attempt, leaving the Filipino likewise shaking his head in surprise.

The 22-year-old Swede, who was born in the US, had a stellar season, winning 17 contests, 14 of which he did with vaults over the six-meter mark. It was his first loss of the year.

Duplantis won those matches, winning the world indoor gold in Belgrade in March and the global outdoor gold in Oregon in July. Both were accomplished using world records for vaults, measuring 6.20 and 6.21 meters, respectively.

Come back stronger

Duplantis said he would aim to improve by the time of next week’s Diamond League finals in Zurich.

“In Zurich, I’ll try to come back a little stronger than here. I want to put up another good performance at the end of the year and end on a high.”

For very many meets, Duplantis has completely dominated his competition.

Waiting patiently to enter at a height that has normally seen a couple of rivals already out, the Swede makes sure of the victory and then goes to plus-6m before deciding whether to have another tilt at the world record.

Asian champion EJ Obiena, a bronze medallist at the Eugene worlds, has a personal best of 5.94m, which he vaulted in Oregon.

The Filipino ranked third on the world outdoor list for this season at that height, after Duplantis and American Chris Nilsen, who cleared 6m dead in May.

EJ Obiena made the most of his chance given that Duplantis’ three tries at it were unsuccessful.

Nilsen, who came in third, was not pleased.

“Third with 5.71m is all I can say. No one produced any good marks today except Ernest John with a first Diamond League win,” he said.

“Everyone is a little tired with the end of the season. I am ready to go to the Diamond League Final. In Zurich, the goal is a top three and 5.90m.

“If I make this I will shoot for 6m. I maybe need to do some speedwork because I felt kind of sluggish today.”

© 2022 AFP

Source:

https://www.rfi.fr/en/sports/20220902-duplantis-given-wake-up-call-as-obiena-steals-pole-vault-win

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EJ Obiena Reinstated into National Team (August 19, 2022)

Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena and the Philippine Athletic Track and Field Association (Patafa) are back together.

Almost all Patafa board members voted in favor of EJ Obiena’s reinstatement to the national team, a welcome development.

source: https://sports.inquirer.net/473861/ej-obiena-formally-reinstated-to-philippine-national-team

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Profile:

• Born: 17th November 1995
• College: the University of Santo Tomas (previously Ateneo De Manila)
• Coach: Vitaly Petrov and Emerson Obiena
• Philippine Team 2014 Onwards

Ernest John Obiena is Filipino Pole Vaulter.

He holds all four significant national Pole Vault records.

He has broken the Philippine National Record 16 times. Also holding the National Record at 5.71m and the National Indoor Record at 5.40m.

Also holding the National Junior Record 5.21m, and National Junior Indoor Record at 5.00m.

He also holds the Asian Athletics meet record and SEA and SEA Games Records.

Also, Ernest John Obiena is the first Filipino that has been given a scholarship from the International Athletic Association Federation (IAAF).

 

EJ Obiena Sporting career

EJ Obiena’s father, Emerson, serves as his coach. Also formerly served as the former Athletics national team member.

In early 2014, for three months, EJ Obiena, with his father, was allowed to train under coach Vitaly Petrov in Formia, Italy.

First of all, Vitaly had previously coached Sergey Bubka. As a result, on July 20, 2014, at the PATAFA weekly relays held at the PhilSports Football and Athletics Stadium.

Hence Ernest Obiena broke the national record for pole vault by registering 5.01 meters.

The previous record was 5.0 meters by Edward Lasquete at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

Consequently, and also broke the junior national record since EJ Obiena at that time is 18 years old. At the same time, the previous description was 4.31, set three years ago.

Most noteworthy, he later broke his own record several times in 2014 alone (5.05, 5.05, 5.15, 5.20, 5.21).

Hence by the time EJ Obiena became ineligible for the national junior record, the record was 5.21, which EJ Obiena set himself.

Therefore in the 2015 Southeast Asian Games,EJ Obiena won a silver medal with a leap of 5.25 meters, his personal record.

Also, EJ Obiena won a gold medal in the 2016 Philippine National Games Finals in Lingayen, Pangasinan, after breaking a new personal record (5.47 meters).

While having problems with a broken pole.

Ernest Obiena set a new Filipino Record in Singapore Open 2015.

The Big Highlight came through when Obiena leaped 5.50m to capture the Philippines’ bronze medal at the Asian Championships.

The first medal to ever be won for the Philippines in the Pole Vault at the Asian level. At Leuvesken, Germany, he increased the Filipino record again to 5.61m.

This mark was just 9cm off the Olympic 5.70m qualifying mark.

EJ, who just missed out on the 2016 selection, will be 24 when the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo roar around.

 

Ernest Obiena Article

I am a filipino vaulter who has a dream to become a world class athlete. I am currently the National Indoor record holder and i have equalled the highest vault of a filipino which is 5.00 meters. I am aiming to qualify and join the World Juniors Championship this coming July in Eugene, Oregon

 

Hi! I am Ernest John Obiena, 18 years old. I am from Manila, Philippines. My Goal is to Qualify for the upcoming World Juniors Championship.

While under my father’s supervision, I cleared 5m in Nan-tou International Pole Vault Championship this year.

Also, I placed 7th out of 26 competitors, which came from Taiwan, Malaysia, the USA, China, Japan, Australia, and Thailand.

Consequently, my performance set a new record for the National Junior indoor Record and National Men Indoor Record.

While my goal is to clear 5.05m officially before July 2014 to be the first homegrown Filipino to qualify and represent our country in the World Juniors Championship in Eugene, Oregon, USA.

We usually send “token athletes” to the World Junior Championship because we have not hit the qualifying standard yet.

Because my Personal Record as of now is 5.00m, which is just 5cm (2”) of the standard set by the World Juniors Championship committee.

Also, I had been clearing this height at times during training.

Because I have to do it officially in an IAAF-recognized competition and clear 5.05 officially.

Hence From June 2013 up to the present, the only Track Oval with a pole vault facility (Pasig, Ultra) in metro manila is not available for use.

Due to ongoing renovations.

Because of this, Pole Vaulting was able to continue and progress.

Furthermore, on January 12, 2014, I met the World Record Holder at my event, Mr. Sergey Bubka.

Mr. Bubka said I should apply for the IAAF’s Olympic B project for athletes like me.

Also, he encouraged my coach/father to learn more and continue my training after the program in Italy.

Hence with God’s blessing, I cleared 5m; I became eligible for the program and was offered a 90 days scholarship to train in Formia, Italy.

While unfortunately, my coach/father has to shoulder all his expenses in joining me.

Consequently, the IAAF program would be a big help for us to prepare for the upcoming World Juniors Championship.

And we can apply the additional knowledge we learned and help improve Pole Vaulting furthermore in our country.

I am also humbly asking for your generosity by helping us save money for my father/coach’s Plane Ticket, Accommodation, Food, and Transpo. Consequently, The total amount (7300) will cover the 90-day stay in Formia, Italy, under Vitaly Petrov, the coach of Mr. Sergey Bubka.

This opportunity is infrequent, and I am most grateful for it and picked me to join this program. Also, this would help me accomplish my goal to represent my country in world-class competitions.

Thank you very much for reading.

EJ Obiena Press Conference

EJ Obiena Historic Bronze at World Championships

July 25, 2022

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EJ Obiena Makes Final 12 at World Champs Oregon Mens Pole Vault (July 23)

Despite the setbacks and roadblocks. Ernest Obiena has made the Final 12 at the World Championships. Qualifying 3rd in Group B and 6th Overall to the final. 5.75m was the cut-off for the Top 12. Obiena is joined in the final by World Record Holder Armand Mondo Duplantis.

Obiena will be looking to improve on his 11th place finish at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics last year where he leaped 5.70m. The Final will be played on July 25 at 3:15 AM in the Philippines, while in the Oregon United States is 12:15 PM on July 24.