EJ Obiena praises pole vaulter Hocket delos Santos, hopes opportunities will also come to fellow Pinoy athlete

While EJ Obiena has been soaring recently with his international achievements for the Philippines in pole vault, a fellow Filipino is starting to make his mark in the same sport.

Hocket delos Santos, a 19-year old pole vaulter, placed second behind Obiena in the 31st Southeast Asian Games after clearing 5.00 meters.

Obiena himself is amazed with the young pole vaulter's achievement.

"I said before that the SEA Games in Vietnam just showed the dominance of Filipino athletes in the event, specifically in pole vault. We could've won another gold in the women's. Unfortunately, as I said sports is very variable come that day. But [that] 1-2 finish has not been done in the past 30, maybe even more years than before. And the kid literally just dropped the mic and said, 'I'm here to stay' and the kid has guts. And I think he will be great," Obiena said about Delos Santos' performance in the biennial meet.

Delos Santos is training under the guidance of Obiena's father Emerson.

"I'm looking forward to what he can do and I'm teasing him that he needs to break my UAAP records first. He has some work to do but I'm here to help as much as I can. And it's nice that going to meets, it's not just gonna be me. There's gonna be two of us. That's a breath of fresh air."

The world no. 3 in pole vault also hopes Delos Santos receives the kind of opportunities he has been getting.

"Hopefully [he gets] opportunities outside of the Philippines like competitions outside of the country that would help him sharpen. That's one of the things and that's why I wanted to bring another competition coming into the Philippines, so he could experience competing with the best in the world.And I think that would open his eyes to a lot of different things. And I think that would help in the long run."

—Justin Kenneth Carandang/JMB, GMA News