How EJ Obiena went from nearly quitting to bannering PHL Olympic dream

EJ Obiena almost gave up his athletics career after suffering from multiple injuries.

The top Filipino pole vaulter  sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in 2017 that left him out of the sport for six months.

In Chino Trinidad's report in "24 Oras" on Wednesday, Obiena said there are times he thought he couldn't go back to his form. 

"There are times that I'm at the gym, looking at the mirror and seeing my knees just messed up. I am just so afraid that I will not be able to come back," he said.

But with the help of his coach Vitaly Petrov, he came back stronger and became the first Filipino to clinch an Olympics berth.

"I was expected to win gold in the previous SEA Games and I called my coach, I was expecting him to say, 'What the hell were you doing?' But then he told me, 'I'm here waiting for you,' and in that moment, I understood that he cares for me more than just an athlete," Obiena said of the Ukranian coach, who gained renown for training pole-vaulting legend and Olympic champion Sergei Bubka of Russia.

Even though Obiena's knees are not yet in tiptop shape, he and Petrov made use of his upper body strength and gymnastics skills, which led him to his record-breaking 5.81 meters in Chiara, Italy last September 2. He is now ranked 10th in the world in pole-vaulting.

Aside from the Olympics set in Tokyo, Japan in 2020, Obiena is also preparing for the upcoming Southeast Asian Games, which will begin in the country on November 30.

"I was built for the Philippines. I want to win this in front of my home crowd. It is a once in a lifetime chance for me to show Filipinos what I can do," he said. —Angelica Garcia/JST, GMA News