Obiena finds the gold | Business mirror



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ERNEST JOHN “EJ” OBIENA finally reached gold on Tuesday in the Czech Republic to credit an extensive and meticulous training program geared towards a successful season at next year’s Tokyo Olympics.

Thank you Philippines. Truly proud to represent him, ”Obiena wrote on his social media account minutes after the medal ceremony of the 59th edition of the prestigious tournament in Ostrava that is part of the newly established World Athletics Continental Tour Gold circuit.

Obiena, 24, surpassed the bar at 5.74 meters, her best mark of the season, by winning gold over London 2012 Olympics champion Renaud Lavillenie from France 2017 world champion Sam Kendricks , from the USA

Lavillenie also cleared 5.74m, but Obiena won the countdown. Kendricks took the bronze with 5.64 meters.

The president of the Philippine Athletics Association (Patafa), Dr. Philip Ella Juico, told BusinessMirror that Obiena’s gold was the fruit of teamwork between the Obiena family, the athlete’s renowned Ukrainian coach, Vitali Petrov, and even the winner of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Thiago Braz.

“The Obiena team – EJ, his parents Emerson and Jeanette – along with coach Petrov and Thiago Braz are doing the right thing,” Juico said. Add the Patafa program and the full support of the PSC [Philippine Sports Commission] and EJ is on the right track. “

Juico said Obiena and Braz are not Petrov’s ordinary sparring partners at the Pole Vault World Center in Formia, Italy. Months of training and the Covid-19 lockdown have made them close friends.

“It confirms the common belief that learning to live with others is important,” Juico said. “You may be the best athlete, the best pole vaulter, but all of this is in vain if you don’t get along with others or if you don’t earn the respect and admiration of your colleagues and others.”

“A little more tweaking,” said Emerson Obiena as he showed the team’s schedule to gradually aim for 5.80m for the rest of the year and move to 6.0m early next year before the Tokyo Olympics to be held. they rescheduled from July 23 to August 8. year due to the pandemic.

Braz holds the 6.03m Olympic record that he set at Rio 2016, while Swiss-American Armand Duplantis set the 6.18m world record in Glasgow last February.

Braz settled for fourth place with a 5.64m effort in Ostrava, which drew some of the best in the world to the event, including Poland’s Pawel Wojciechowski (5.34) and Matt Ludwig, who was on his worst performance yet at the landing last in the 10-athlete field with no recorded jump.

Approximately 3,000 spectators were able to attend the meeting due to government restrictions to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

After earning a ticket to Tokyo by surpassing the 5.80m Olympic qualifying mark with a 5.81m effort in Piazza Chiari, Italy, in September last year, Obiena remained focused on training for the Games.

Obiena won gold at the Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines last December before being locked in training in Formia.

Their 2020 campaign has gotten bright as it approaches the end of the year. She achieved silver at the 13th Triveneto International Gathering in Trieste, Italy, last August, finishing behind Braz. She settled for a bronze medal in the Monaco stage of the Diamond League at the end of the month.

Obiena participated in the Golden Roof Challenge in Indsbruck earlier this week, but the event was canceled due to heavy rain.

Obiena’s next goal is the Roma del Diamante stage on September 17.

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