EJ OBIENA on Wednesday went into detail about his back injury, specifically, his spine, that had a major impact on his training in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics.
But Obiena is not using it as an excuse, saying he would still have a chance to win a medal anyway despite the obstacles during the build-up.
“I didn’t expect this to happen this year,” said Obiena during an online press conference for Philippine reporters. “But in sports, you’ll never know. We push ourselves, our body to the limit. It’s definitely been rough since right after the indoors (indoor season), even the indoors. Just things after things and things after things. It’s the reality of it.”
EJ Obiena: 'I've been knocked down. But I will get back up'
“I don’t use that to say, ‘Okay, that’s why the outcome was short of a medal.’ I truly believe that I was capable of doing that. It’s what makes it painful even more. I was that close. All things considered, I was that close,” said Obiena.
Obiena placed fourth after clearing 5.90 meters in a tie with Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, who had the same tally but won the bronze via countback as Obiena fouled in all his attempts to clear 5.95 meters. Silver medalist Sam Kendricks, meanwhile, made 5.95.
The 28-year-old Obiena recounted how close he was to winning a silver medal, saying all he needed was to clear his first attempt at 5.95.
“I wanted to make the first jump at (5.95) that would have been a silver-medal finish because I’m ahead of Sam if I’m right. That was the goal, that's why I stick at 5.95. It was not a height that I think I couldn’t make. I made (5.90) quite high. I didn’t even need to replicate that jump. I just needed to make 95 and I truly believed I’m capable of it.”
“I was deliberating maybe I should move to six meters, but again, an Olympic medal is an Olympic medal. So I stick to 5.95 the way any competitor would and try to seize the moment,” said Obiena.
Tough season for Obiena
Obiena felt all the disruptions in his training due to his back injury prevented him from making consistent jumps this season, including in the Olympics where he even fouled once at 5.80 meters.
The injury, Obiena said, was first felt during his training in the United States, and eventually became a recurring one.
“It’s a small joint at the back. It’s between the L4, L5 region but it’s not just one facet joints. It’s multiple facet joints. And those things have sensory nerves. Those nerves get triggered and irritated. With that, they cause back inflammation, restricting movements, and all these things.”
“This has been recurring this season quite a bit. I was in the US when it first started. If you watch closely the competition in LA, every time I walk out of the pit, I was very slow. Not because I was trying to slow it down. I can’t move right away after I jumped. It spasms, it locks up, and sometimes, it doesn’t relax, sometimes it does,” said Obiena.
Obiena said that due to the injury, there were times were he can’t run, and even feel it while walking, causing him to stop training. There was an effort to manage the injury since it was an Olympic year but the pain just won’t go away.
“We don’t know what exactly is causing this even until now,” said Obiena.
“When it’s really bad, I do remember even in jogging, I can feel it. I can’t run. Definitely, vaulting was out of the picture. Running can happen when it is not that inflamed,” he added.
Surprisingly, Obiena said he didn’t feel any pain during the days of the Olympics.
“I don’t think it hindered me, at least on the day of Paris Olympics. If I’m analyzing everything without any emotion to this period and the reality of things, I think it did affect me but not on the competition.
“(But) it affected my consistency. It affected my overall program going to Paris,” said Obiena.
“It’s been a very tough season for me overall. I felt like I was getting maybe two, three sessions before Olympics that I started to be able to stitch together myself and got a good barrier of what I can do. And I think it definitely showed in the qualis (qualifiers) and maybe even in the final, the lack of consistency and repetitions because of all these problems.”
Addressing Obiena's spine injury
Now that the Olympics is done, Obiena said he will be looking at addressing his back injury. He will also be limiting his competitions for the remainder of the year but hopes to maintain his world ranking of No. 2.
“Now, there is no reason to be in pain meds and try to compete. It’s time to fix the problem. If the doctor thinks [we can] finish the season, that’s what we are going to do. We are not going to be doing any risk for my health, and longterm health plans. And then, we are going to take it from there,” said Obiena.
“I’m not really joining in small tournaments. I think I’ve chosen a lot of high-level competitions,” he added.
Obiena assured the Filipino nation that he did his best in the Olympics under the challenging circumstances.
“But I can promise you guys that I did everything that I can with all the circumstances I dealt with. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved,” Obiena said.
“But it didn’t really lessen the disappointment and pain of coming in fourth. In every other Olympics, 5.90 would have medalled. One miss at 5.80 that didn’t even matter, cost me a podium finish. It is sport. It can be beautiful and brutal at the same time,” said Obiena.
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