EJ Obiena shares story behind successful comeback after shaky start in Olympics: 'Ang kaba ko, grabe'

It was not the smoothest start for pole vaulter EJ Obiena in the 2024 Paris Olympics, but fortunately, everything ended well as he booked a slot in the finals of men's pole vault.

Obiena cleared 5.75 meters to be among the 12 finalists in contention for the medal.

The Asian record holder skipped 5.40 meters, but missed his first two attempts at 5.60, putting his Olympic medal bid on the brink of elimination.

Why did he skip the supposed last attempt for 5.60?

"It was because of my coach," Obiena told GMA Integrated News' JP Soriano, who is a part of the Philippine Olympic Committee media, when asked how he came back from the rough start.

Obiena trains under his reliable coach Vitaly Petrov.

"He made those calls. I wanted to stick in the 60, he said no, skip and then move up. I said, 'Are you sure?' He was like, 'Yeah.' Stone cold, there was no doubt.

"He believes in me, the way he spoke to me. Kailangan ko lang gawin 'yung sinabi niya. I think i did it and I'm very happy."

The Filipino pole vaulter admitted the rough start was not because of nerves. However, when he was jumping at 5.70, that's when he became nervous.

"I don't think it was nerves. I needed to move up poles. Poles were too soft, I have no idea. That's a good problem to have," he said.

"Yeah, [that] gave me a heart attack. 'Yung kaba ko, grabe, for sure," Obiena said about his 5.70 jump.

"That whole three years between Tokyo and I don't make the final, it was on the line on that one jump."

Back in Tokyo, Obiena finished 11th overall in the finals.

"I really needed to concentrate and focus. I didn't want to show a lot of emotions. Normally, I would stay calm, but the moment I made that, I just needed to express it because it was bottling up. Normally, I don't do that but [du'n] nakasalalay, kapit sa patalim talaga," he added.

Now, Obiena will start to rest and recover before the finals on Tuesday.

"Thank you for holding onto your seat and believing in me. We made it," Obiena told his supporters.

"I didn't want it to be that way, as much as I want to say I got it all, no, it was not planned at all. I wanted to jump 60 and 75 but you got to adapt."

—with reports from JP Soriano/JKC, GMA Integrated News