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Friday, March 29, 2024

Obiena will miss Diamond athletics leg in Qatar

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Issues with his visa will keep Ernest John “EJ” Obiena from seeing action in the Doha leg of the Diamond League athletics meet this Friday in Qatar.

His visa is set to expire in less than six months, and Obiena was not able to renew it in time.

And more complications would have awaited him if he went home to Philippines, and sought to return to Formia, Italy, and then to Doha afterwards

“Di po ako tuloy sa Doha,” said the 24-year-old Obiena, after clearing 5.80 meters and settling for the bronze medal in the men’s pole vault event of the star-studded Rome leg of the Diamond League 2020 last week at the Olympic Stadium in Italy.

Obiena won’t be going home, and will just continue training Italy while waiting for his visa to be renewed.

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“Less than six months na lang ang visa and passport niya. Mahirap na, baka hindi na siya payagan, at hindi rin siya makabalik,” said EJ’s dad Emerson.

Recently, Italy issued tight restrictions for foreigners in relation to efforts to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the latest guideline, “foreigners, by virtue of the new Italian law decree, who have expired permesso di soggiorno (permit to stay) are allowed to apply for issuance/renewal of the permit to stay 30 days after its expiration, which gives foreigners a total of 90 days from the expiration of permit of stay to renew his/her permit. The same decree also gives 30-day allowance for foreigners with expired visas who are currently in Italy to apply for visa extension.”

Obiena expressed his gratitude for his recent European stint on his Facebook messages.

“We finally come to say goodbye to the weird 2020 season. My 2019 self wouldn’t have predicted that 2020 would be so unpredictable. It has been a roller-coaster ride since January and still doesn’t show signs of slowing down,” wrote Obiena.

In Obiena’s last outing in Rome, Armand Duplantis made heads turn when he broke Sergey Bubka’s world outdoor record at 6.15 meters on his second attempt.

Belgian Ben Broeders, who set a national record, tied Obiena at the same height and settled for the silver after acing it on his second attempt. Former world record holder Renaud Lavillenie finished fourth with 5.70m.

On the other hand, Obiena pumped his right fist in the air after he took three attempts to make a clearance at the height, and moments after his body hit the bar on his second try.

Then, he tried for 5.85 meters, but his foot glanced at the bar on his third effort, and Obiena did not hide his disappointment afterwards.

His stint in the southern part of Europe was done with the help of coach Vitaly Petrov, and the guidance of 2016 Rio champion Thiago Braz of Brazil.

“Thank you Coach Vitaly as always you just are incredible, maybe even more. Patient as a human can be with me specially thru those rough months. Thank you for all the support you have given me this year. You motivated, pushed, and even carried me thru and thru this season,” said Obiena.

Last Sept. 12, Obiena competed against a talented field, and still managed to pick up a share of a bronze medal in the men’s pole vault meet of the Poznan Athletics Grand Prix 2020 in Poland.

The 24-year-old Obiena was distracted by the presence of world class rivals, but he still kept his composure as cleared the height at 5.52 meters on his second attempt.

On Sept. 5, a confident Obiena recorded his second season best attempt of 5.74 meters to grab the gold in the 59th Ostrava Golden Spike competition in the Czech Republic.

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