THE Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) sees the record-breaking mark of EJ Obiena in Norway as start of something big.
Patafa president Terry Capistrano believes Obiena breaking the 6-meter barrier to win the gold in the Bergen Jump Challenge in Bruggen, Norway augurs well for the Filipino pole vaulter’s bid for three major international tournaments, which hopefully translates to a berth in the Paris Olympics.
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The 27-year-old Asian record holder is competing in the Asian Athletics Championships in Pattaya, Thailand from July 12-16; the World Athletics Championships, where Obiena won a bronze medal last year, from August 19-27 in Budapest; and the Guangzhou Asian Games in China from Sept. 23 to Oct. 8 where he aims to win the gold.
All three tournaments serve as qualifiers for the Paris Olympiad.
“While we are all elated with EJ Obiena’s 6-meter performance in Norway the other day, we at Patafa, believe that he can do better in the coming months and beyond knowing what he’s capable of as a world-class athlete,” said Capistrano in a statement.
“We are happy and proud of EJ becoming the first Asian athlete to join the 6-meter club in the men’s pole vault. But we know he is capable of doing better because of his continuous training and competing abroad under veteran coach Vitaly Petrov, plus his perserverance.”
Capistrano referred to Obiena as an ‘extremely gifted athlete,’ but urged the three-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist to continuously work hard to ‘get where he should be.’
Obiena is currently the world No. 3 pole vaulter and Asia’s top-ranked player.

Capistrano and Patafa also thanked Philippine Sports Commission under chairman Richard Bachmann and Philippine Olympic Committee president Abramah ‘Bambol’ Tolentino for their unconditional support.
Obiena became the first Asian to hit the 6-meter mark and the 28th member of the exclusive men’s pole vault 6-meter club led by world No. 1 and record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden.
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