For EJ Obiena, pursuing his dreams of becoming an Olympian is one big leap of faith
Ernest John Obiena has been making a name for himself in the field of athletics and pole vaulting in the recent years, with numerous of achievements under his belt. So far he’s won silver in the 2015 SEA Games, gold at the Asian Athletics Championship in 2019, and became the first Filipino who’s been given a scholarship from the International Athletic Association Foundation—just to name a few. Because of these, a lot of people, especially his kababayans here in the Philippines are hoping for a podium finish in his Tokyo Olympic stint this July 31st.
This may be a huge pressure for the 25-year-old athlete, but being an Olympian is a dream worth fighting for. Before flying to Tokyo, he sat down for an exclusive interview with MEGA, giving us a glimpse of his life on the road to glory.
A dream realized
Obiena was inspired with his father, who’s also a pole vaulter. He was exposed to the sport early in his life and soon found himself competing in the sport. Numerous opportunities led him to representing the Philippines in the pole vaulting arena. However, this streak was put into a halt when he got injured in 2017.
Obiena was the pole-vault favorite for the gold in the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, but he sustained an ACL injury during practice a day before he was supposed to leave for Malaysia.
A seven-month rehabilitation period, followed by intense training in Formia, Italy under Vitaly Petrov, who was the coach of pole vault legend Sergei Bubka, had Obiena bouncing back from his horrendous injury.
Through all that, Obiena was pondering his life and his goals, debating if he should focus on his sport or continue his studies in UST agraduate, and live a life expected of males his age. In the end he decided to pursue his dream of becoming an Olympian.
“I felt that what made me decide is much deeper than logic, and I felt that there was a calling.”
Ernest Obiena on pursuing his dream of becoming an olympian after his 2017 injury
“Some may say it’s very ignorant of me to not do this logical thing during that time, but I felt that what made me decide is much deeper than logic, and I felt that there was a calling,” he shares. “This is something that I knew I couldn’t just move on to without trying. If I could actually still do it, and get back to it—if I can pursue my dream that I want to be an olympian. Having the guts to take that leap of faith per se is very difficult.”
Worth the sacrifice
Training overseas and being away from the family is difficult for him, but the championships, the cheers of fellow Filipinos in the stadium are things he looks forward to, reminders of how blessed he is to be doing this sport. “It’s really fun to see or compete in a stadium. Like, you told me don’t expect it, then you’ll see the Philippine flag somewhere around the area and [hear] shouting, “kabayan!” You know, this is definitely an experience I would say that not a lot of people are able to have and I’m very blessed to be able to do what I do, to do what I love,” he says.
Aside from representing the country, he also wishes that by continuing this sport, he would inspire other people too especially kids. He shares, “You know, competitions come and go, but if I can inspire a kid—inspire him to do pole vaulting, and maybe he becomes the next pole vaulter, you know it’s a pleasure no one can take away from me.”
Listen to his full story of recovery and overcoming his great doubts here in MEGA People below:
Related:
Exclusive: The Olympic Bound Pinoy Athletes Like You’ve Never Seen Before
Filipino Delegates To Sport Asics For The Tokyo Olympics
Hidilyn Diaz Wins The First Olympic Gold Medal For The Philippines
Get To Know, Eumir Marcial, The Philippines’ Flag Bearer For The Tokyo Olympics
