Obiena, 1st Pinoy bronze medalist sa IAAF league

ni Gerard Arce - @Sports | August 16, 2020

Muling tumalon sa isang makasaysayang talaan si 2020 Tokyo Olympics-bound Ernest John “EJ” Obiena sa pandaigdigang kompetisyon matapos maging kauna-unahang Filipino na nagwagi ng medalya sa 2020 IAAF Diamond League, Sabado ng umaga (Phil. time) sa Louis II Stadium sa Monaco.

Inirehistro ng 24-anyos na dating UST student-athlete ang 5.70m na talon para sa bronze medal na ikatlong puwesto kina World number one at record holder Armand Duplantis ng Sweden at world #12 Ben Broeders ng Belgium na kumunekta ng 6.00-meters at 5.70m.

Sinubukan pa ng 30th SEAG champion na makuha ang 5.80 meters sa tatlong magkasunod na attempts, ngunit ito’y nabigo. “I felt really good and pressure at the same time. I’m happy with my jump at 5.70 but I’m not that glad how I ended at the meet, like I could jump a lot better, mentally a little bit lacking there and because I could make a lot of done to be better,” pahayag ni Obiena sa panayam ng Bulgar Sports sa pamamagitan ng online interview. “I mean, all things considered 5.70 is a good mark and a to be honest it’s something that I didn’t expect for myself at the moment, but seeing what I could have done in the competition, it’s kind of not really shaken my training but it showed me that if I was mentally capable of realizing what I can do a lot more that I can actually do, it materialize on this competition, but I was able to,” dagdag nito na tila nabighani sa jampack at star-studded na line up para sa kanyang ikatlong paglahok sa event na nagsimulang buksan sapol pa noong 2010 para sa mga dekalibreng atleta sa buong mundo.

Bukod kina Duplantis at Broeders ay nagawa ring daigin ng world number 16th ranked na Filipino pole vaulter sina 2016 Rio Games men’s Pole vault Champion Thiago Braz da Silva ng Brazil na tumapos sa 5th place sa 5.50m; at two-time World champion at number five Sam Kendricks ng US sa 6th place.

Nagsisilbing malaking motibasyon para sa 2019 Salto Con L’Asta Piazza Chiari meeting winner, ang makalaban ang mga mahuhusay na manlalaro sa buong mundo, kabilang na ang 20-anyos na Swedish-American na si Duplantis na gumawa ng pambihirang marka sa Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix sa Emirates Arena sa Scotland na 6.18-meters.

“To be honest, diamond league is a big-big competition, I felt really good and pressure at the same time. Competing with Armand and or Thiago is always fun, because they always bring really good game and you know he’s [Duplantis] really on fire right now and he’s jumping really well,” paliwanag ng 2019 Universiade titlist. “The competitive level that he brings in the competition just like drags everyone up and it’s something that I’ve been looking for and everyone that looks forward to while competing with him,” dagdag nito.

Nito lamang buwan ng Agosto ay nagwagi ng silver medal si Obeina sa likod ni Braz de Silva sa 13th Triveneto International Meeting sa Giuseppe Grezar Stadium, Trieste, Italy. Inirehistro nito ang 5.45-meters na marka kasunod ng 5.50-meters ng Brazilian champion.

Kasalukuyang nagsasanay ang 2019 Asian Athletics Championship top-placer sa Formia, Italy sa ilalim ng batikang world champion na si Vitaly Petrov ng Ukraine para sa Summer Games sa 2021.