Ernest John Obiena

Ernest Obiena

Obiena at the Malago Clubhouse in Malacañang Palace in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Ernest John Uy Obiena
Nickname(s)	EJ Obiena
Nationality	Filipino
Born	(1995-11-17) November 17, 1995 (age 25) Tondo, Manila, Philippines[1]
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.9 m)[2]
Sport
Country	Philippines
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	Pole vaulting
College team	University of Santo Tomas
Coached by	Emerson Obiena Vitaly Petrov (2014) James Lafferty
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	5.93m (2021, NR and AR[3])
hide Medal record Men's athletics Representing  Philippines Event 1st 2nd 3rd Asian Athletics Championships 1 0 1 Universiade 1 0 0 Southeast Asian Games 1 1 0 Total 3 1 1 Asian Athletics Championships 2019 Doha Pole vault 2017 Bhubaneswar Pole vault Universiade 2019 Naples Pole vault Southeast Asian Games 2019 Philippines Pole vault 2015 Singapore Pole vault

Ernest John Uy Obiena (born November 17, 1995^[4][5]) is a Filipino pole vaulter. Before breaking the Asian Athletics Championships record, he held the Philippine national record in pole vaulting with a record of 5.55 meters which he accomplished on April 29, 2016 at the 78th Singapore Open Championships in Kallang, Singapore.^[6] He later broke the Asian Athletics Championships record with 5.71 meters on April 21, 2019 on its 23rd biennial meet at Doha, Qatar which earned him the coveted gold medal finish. He currently holds the National Record which he broke in the same event.

Obiena is the first Filipino that has been given a scholarship from the International Athletic Association Federation (IAAF).^[1][7]

Early life and education[]

Ernest "EJ" Obiena was born to track and field athletes, Emerson and Jeanette Obiena^[2] on November 17, 1995 in Tondo, Manila.^[1][4] Obiena attended the Chiang Kai Shek College for his secondary education and later entered the University of Santo Tomas for his college studies.^[2]

Pole vault career[]

Early years[]

EJ Obiena first took up pole vaulting when he was eight years old but he initially focused on doing hurdles. His father, Emerson Obiena served as his coach until he was 18 years old.^[8] Obiena competed at the 100 and 400 meter hurdles event for his high school, Chiang Kai Shek College.^[2] Unable to qualify for regional meets, He decided to shift back to pole vaulting when he was in his last years in high school in a bid to secure a college scholarship.^[8]

At the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), he competed for the University of Santo Tomas.^[2]

National team[]

Obiena (right) at the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships.

In early 2014, Obiena was able to meet Ukrainian pole vaulter Sergey Bubka who was visiting the Philippines. He originally intended just to get an autograph from Bubka but he was able to learn of an opportunity to train in Italy.^[8] In the same year for three months, Obiena went to Italy to train under coach Vitaly Petrov in Formia who also previously coached Bubka.^[9] On July 20, 2014, at the PATAFA weekly relays held at the PhilSports Football and Athletics Stadium, 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. The junior national record was also broken, since Obiena at that time is 18 years old. The previous record was 4.31 set three years ago.^[9]

He later broke his own record several times in 2014 alone (5.05, 5.05, 5.15, 5.20, 5.21). By the time Obiena became ineligible for the national junior record, the record was 5.21 which Obiena set himself.^{[citation needed]}

In the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, Obiena won a silver medal with a leap of 5.25 meters, that time his' personal record.^[10]

Obiena won a gold medal in the 2016 Philippine National Games Finals in Lingayen, Pangasinan after breaking a new personal record (5.47 meters), despite problems with his broken pole.

Obiena won gold in the men's pole vault event at the 2019 Summer Universiade^[11] setting a new national record of 5.76 meters. He secured a berth in the 2020 Summer Olympics by surpassing the qualifying standard by making a 5.81 meters finish in a tournament in Chiara, Italy on September 3, 2019. The finish was also a national record.^[12]

At the 2019 World Athletics Championships he failed to advance to the final round by finishing 15th out of 35 entrants through his 5.6 meters finish. He is aiming to surpass his own record targeting to leap 5.85 meters or further in training.^[13]

The COVID-19 pandemic caused the postponement of the Olympics and travel restrictions imposed by countries in response to the health crisis posed logistical issues to Obiena's preparations. For most of 2020, Obiena spent his time training in Formia, Italy and was unable to go back to the Philippines during the Christmas season. He trained under American conditioning coach James Michael Lafferty and Nutritionist Carol Lafferty; along with Brazilian Thiago Braz as his training partner.^[14] Obiena set a new Asian record in pole vault when he lifted his best vault all the way to 5.93 meters at the International Golden Roof Challenge in Innsbruck, Austria on September 12, 2021. He finished 1st in the tournament.^[3]

Competition record[]

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
Representing the  Philippines
2013	Southeast Asian Games	Naypyidaw, Myanmar	4th	4.90 m
2015	Southeast Asian Games	Singapore	2nd	5.25 m
2016	Asian Indoor Championships	Doha, Qatar	4th	5.40 m
2017	Asian Championships	Bhubaneswar, India	3rd	5.50 m
2018	Asian Games	Jakarta, Indonesia	7th	5.30 m
2019	Asian Championships	Doha, Qatar	1st	5.71 m
	Southeast Asian Games	Philippines	1st	5.45 m
	Universiade	Naples, Italy	1st	5.76 m
	World Championships	Doha, Qatar	15th (q)	5.60 m
2020	Olympic Games	Tokyo, Japan	11th	5.70 m

See also[]

• List of Asian Athletics Championships records
• List of Filipino records in athletics

References[]

External links[]

• Ernest John Obiena at World Athletics