Tokyo—The Philippines’ Olympic pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena wants to pause for a while and assess what his plans are for the future.
In a web conference arranged by the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association, Obiena said the only concrete plan he had after taking part in the Summer Olympic Games, where he placed 11th after a 5.7 meter clearance, was to talk to his coach Vitaly Petrov to assess his performance.
“My plan is, today pa lang ang alam ko. I will talk to my coach, analyze what happened and move forward from there. We’ll see what we’ll be doing in the next few weeks. We’ll see what I’m gonna do,” said Obiena, who is at a crossroads on whether he is still pursuing a career in pole vaulting.
“As of the moment, I don’t really know whether I’ll compete if I’m still gonna continue. I have really no idea yet. Hindi pa maayos, wala pa ako sa ganoong lugar sa ngayon,” added Obiena, who kissed his hopes for a medal goodbye after failing to clear the bar at 5.8 meters thrice in the men’s pole vault finals at the Tokyo National Stadium on Tuesday.
Obiena’s personal best and Philippine record stands at 5.87, the same mark cleared by training partner Thiago Braz of Brazil in claiming the bronze.
As expected Armand Duplantis of Sweden won the gold with a leap clearing 6.02 meters, while American Christopher Nilsen settled for silver (5.97).
After what looked like a foul attempt on his third try at 5.8, Obiena approached the officials’ table to protest that the bar was still being raised when his clock already began its countdown.
He was given another chance to try, but he again failed to clear the bar. However, Obiena was praised for his move of fighting for his right due to the error.
“I’ve been raised to be a timid kind of guy but I’ve always believed that if I’m on the right place or I truly believe I’m right, I’d fight for it,” said Obiena. “That’s basically just what I did. It just so happened that it’s an Olympic final and it got a spotlight and got the attention. But I do it every single day.”