Pride, glory, and humility: EJ Obiena wins PSA's Athlete of the Year award after unmatched 2023 achievements
2024-Jan-04 13:00
2024-Jul-14 16:01
UNMATCHED EJ Obiena delivered an unforgettable 2023 campaign, making him worthy of the PSA Athlete of the Year award. PHOTO: EJ Obiena/Facebook
Ernest John "EJ" Obiena is a beast unleashed in 2023. The Filipino pole vaulter bagged numerous medals and broke several records to end the year as one of the most successful Filipino sportsmen, even etching his name among the greatest track and field athletes the Philippines has produced.
With such feats, Obiena earned the Athlete of the Year nod from the Philippine Sportswriters Association. PSA is the oldest media organization in the country, headed by Nelson Beltran, its current president and The Philippine Star sports editor.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympian is the lone recipient of the top honor to be given in the San Miguel Corporation (SMC)-PSA Awards Night on January 29 at Diamond Hotel. He beat Gilas Pilipinas, Filipinas, Meggie Ochoa, and Annie Ramirez, who all attained significant achievements in 2023, for the recognition.
Obiena is the first track athlete since long jump ace Marestella Torres in 2009 to win the accolade.
Presenting the blue-ribbon event is Arena Plus, alongside major sponsors Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), PLDT/Smart, and MILO. The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), Premier Volleyball League (PVL), Rain or Shine, and 1-Pacman Partylist Representative Mikee Romero will also support the awarding ceremony.
Before these unimaginable results came along the way, Obiena underwent a turbulent 2022. He was accused by his sports federation, the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA), of falsifying liquidation documents. PATAFA claimed he failed to pay his coach, Vitaly Petrov, 85,000 euros or over 4.8 million pesos.
Following these accusations, Obiena didn't back down and stood up for himself and his coach Petrov, filing complaints to POC, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and World Athletics, as well as threatening PATAFA of a defamation case.
Mulling retirement and receiving offers from other nations to undergo naturalization, Obiena asserted his loyalty to the Pearl of the Orient.
"I will never abandon my nation because of money. That's not loyalty. At least not how I define it," he said.
The rest is history as the two parties found resolution and Obiena was reinstated in the national team after being expelled in early January 2022. His name was cleared of any wrongdoings by the Commission on Audit, with PATAFA endorsing him again.
These events occurred at the onset of Obiena's rise in 2023, which saw him establish himself as one of the world's elites.
Obiena started 2023 with six consecutive podium finishes during the indoor season, including three gold medals. His first title came in the Perche en Or in late January before ruling the Orlen Cup and Copernicus Cup, both held in Poland in February.
He also snagged a silver and bronze. The son of Emerson Obiena, a former pole vaulter himself, kicked off his indoor stint by placing second in the Internationales Springer-Meeting before settling for third in the Mondo Classic, where he faced the sport's juggernaut, Armand Duplantis.
But aside from the titles Obiena brought home, he also clinched an Olympic berth. This gave him a shot for redemption after his 12th-place finish in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
He booked a return trip to the quadrennial showpiece after clearing the qualifying standard of 5.82 meters in the Bauhaus-Galan leg of last year's Wanda Diamond League in Stockholm, Sweden in July. In this competition, Obiena snared the silver behind eventual champion and home bet Duplantis.
In 2023, Obiena cemented himself as the undisputed Asian pole vault king, shattering records one by one in all Asian-based tournaments he joined.
In the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in May, Obiena broke his previous biennial meet record of 5.46 m as he leaped 5.65 m for a third gold in a row.
A month later, Obiena defended his Asian Athletics Championships crown in Bangkok, Thailand. Aside from retaining the title, EJ reset anew the Asian record he established in the 2019 edition of the continental tiff. He previously leaped 5.71 m before surpassing the 5.91-meter bar to become the fourth Filipino track athlete to win multiple golds in the said competition, joining Lydia de Vega, Isidro del Prado, and Amelita Alanes.
His dominance in the Asian continent continued come the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China where he literally obliterated the 12-man field. He erased Japan's Seito Yamamoto's 2018 Jakarta-Palembang meet 5.70-meter record twice by overcoming 5.75 m and then breaching the 5.90 m. With his victory, Obiena also ended the Philippine athletics team's 29-year medal drought since Elma Muros-Posadas took the women's long jump bronze in Hiroshima 1994.
Moreover, Obiena's impressive showing went beyond his continent.
He scored a higher finish in the 2023 World Athletics Championships (WAC) in Budapest, Hungary, following his bronze medal in the 2022 tiff to become the first-ever Filipino to bag a WAC medal. Obiena finished as Duplantis' bridesmaid but defeated Tokyo 2020 silver medalist and the United States' Christopher Nilsen.
On top of these achievements, one stands out the most, as only a few globally have managed to ace this feat.
In pole vault history, there are only 28 individuals part of the exclusive six-meter club. One of them is Obiena. What makes this special is that he is the only Asian on the list.
Obiena first cleared the height in June during the Bergen Jump Challenge for the gold.
"It took a few moments to sink in. But when it did, tears began to fall, there was no greater shoulder to cry on than my coach, Vitaliy. Couldn't have done it without you." a tearful Obiena posted on his Facebook page. "Still a lot of work ahead and still a long season. Just happy and proud to be part of the 6m Club."
He repeated the same thing in WAC 2023 and notched silver.
The wins are nonetheless a testament to Obiena's unwavering dedication and effort to master his craft and soar higher. But more than Obiena's achievements are his character. He kept his foot grounded, demonstrating fortitude amid the difficulties a world-class athlete like him had faced.
In February, Obiena refused to accept donations, calling it double dipping.
"It is just not the right thing to do to ask you to pay once via paying taxes, and then pay again privately. This is "double dipping" and it's not ethical." he explained.
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He is indeed a winner inside or outside the competition proper as EJ Obiena isn't just an athlete but a Filipino who embodies patriotism.
His pride, glory, and humility are worth the award he will receive.