Hangzhou, China, September 30, 2023: Two-time World Championship medallist Ernest John "EJ" Obiena won the Philippines its first gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games when he soared above the rest of the field in the men’s pole vault on Saturday.
The 27-year-old Tokyo Olympian carried the hopes of a nation on his shoulders but, despite the heavy expectations, the ever-smiling Filipino made light work of the task as he registered a Games record of 5.90 metres to win gold.
“It is amazing to win, and also a bit of a relief. There was a big weight on my shoulders. I kind of loved it but also didn’t like the way it made me feel. But I am an athlete and I had a job to do,” said an ecstatic Obiena.
Five years ago at the 2018 Jakarta Games, Obiena hardly made an impression as he finished seventh. Obiena was then recovering from an ACL injury. It was a different story on Saturday.
Obiena ruled the competition, imperiously relegating the rest of the 12-strong field to mere onlookers.
“I didn’t want to stop at 5.90 and I would have liked to have gone for the Asian record (6.00). But unfortunately I didn’t have it in me tonight. Yet, I’m excited to take this medal, and to put it on my shelf,” Obiena said.
China’s Huang Bokai won the silver medal while Saudi Arabia’s Hussain Al-Hizam also finished with the same height but took the bronze having failed an attempt at 5.55.
“I felt like a villain tonight and was taking the medal from someone (Chinese) here. This stadium is wonderful and I felt so welcomed here. But I also have a responsibility to my country. I told myself ‘I need this, my country needs this, and I need to bring it home’,” Obiena recounted afterwards.
Obiena has matured like good wine. He was the first competitor from the Philippines to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships by claiming the bronze medal in the men’s pole vault at the 2022 edition in Oregon, USA.
He bettered this with a silver medal at this year’s World Championships in Budapest, Hungary in August with a leap of 5.94 – second only to the great Armand Mondo Duplantis of Sweden, the current world record holder with 6.22m. Obiena has been Duplantis’ closest rival in 2023.
Now what’s next for Obiena. “Just rest and live the moment. For sure, the 2024 Paris Olympics is a target, but I want to unwind right now. It has been a pretty long season. I’m going to enjoy this victory first,” Obiena said.
In the men’s hammer throw, China’s Wang Qi snatched the title from defending gold medallist Ashraf Elseify with a throw of 72.97 metres on his fifth attempt. Elseify, who won gold in 2018 Jakarta, had led until then with a 72.47 on his second attempt, but could not find that extra gear to overhaul the hometown favourite and had to settle for silver. The bronze medal was won by Uzbekistan’s Sukhrob Khodjaev with an effort of 70.79.
