FOR a suddenly embattled EJ Obiena who faces doping allegations from a fellow pole vaulter's wife, doping takes opportunites away from athletes and "should never have space" in sports.
The world's second-ranked men's pole vaulter adamantly posited his anti-doping stance amid "baseless" claims thrown against him.
READ: EJ Obiena lie detector results prove innocence on doping claims
"I don’t think there’s a place in sports for doping. All athletes get one chance to be an elite athlete. And if you’re robbed of a moment, a split moment at that, you can never get it back," said Obiena.
While Obiena hasn't been the collateral damage of a doped competitor, the Filipino trackster knows the feeling of being stripped of a chance to compete all too well.
"I’ve been quite lucky to have competed and not be robbed of an opportunity due to a competitor being doped.
"But I’ve been robbed of my entry to a world championship back in 2022. It hurts and I can’t get that time back. I don’t know if I would ever get a chance again to compete at that level that I could," Obiena recalled.
Albeit non-doping related, Obiena's four-month row with local governing body Patafa led to the denial of his worlds bid despite reaching the qualifying standard and was the only top-ranked vaulter to miss the event.
Ultimately under any circumstance, Asia's best men's pole vaulter made his stance on such a career-destructing act like doping crystal clear.
"Therefore, I truly believe that doping should never have space in this sport. The definition of sport should not even entertain doping."
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