Vindicated

EJ Obiena finally received an apology from Anais Lavillenie, the wife of French pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, who had accused him of taking performance-enhancing substances to emerge as the second-best pole vaulter in the world.

Facts didn't back Lavillenie's foul accusation. It was backed by greed, envy, and a generous amount of insecurity.

Then known as Anais Poumarat, Lavillenie knows what she's talking about as she used to be a pole vaulter. After 11 years of being together, she married Renaud in 2018 in a glittery ceremony at the Clermont-Ferrand Town Hall in France.

A powerhouse cast of guests was in attendance, including Renaud's younger brother, Valentin, who also represents France in high-level international competitions like the World Championships and the Olympics.

At the time of their wedding, Renaud was on top of the world.

He was six years removed from registering 5.97 meters to win the gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics and two years from engaging with Thiago Braz of Brazil in a dramatic showdown for the crown at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Braz, who is also being handled by Obiena's mentor, Vitaly Petrov of Ukraine, bagged the gold with a jump of 6.03 meters, while Renaud settled for the silver with a 5.98-meter performance despite coming in as the world record holder (6.16 meters) and Olympic record holder (5.97 meters).

Still, Renaud went on to assert his supremacy on the international stage to rise as the second-best pole vaulter in the world behind Braz.

But a lot of things happened since then.

A young Swedish-American vaulter named Armand Duplantis rose to prominence and smashed Renaud's world record by registering 6.17 meters in a tournament in Poland in 2020.

Now, Duplantis is ruling the sport with an iron hand as he holds the world record of 6.23 meters while dominating all international events, including the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Closely behind Duplantis is Obiena.

Despite competing in a sport largely dominated by taller, stronger Europeans, Obiena proved that he has what it takes to become one of the best vaulters in the world.

He has been a regular fixture on the medal podium of major international events and, at one point, toppled Duplantis when he cleared 5.91 meters in the Wanda Diamond League in Belgium.

Outside the track, Obiena is loved as well.

He is considered one of the faces of Philippine sports together with Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz, world champion Carlos Yulo, and prized boxers Eumir Marcial, Nesthy Petecio, and Carlo Paalam, and doesn't hesitate to extend a helping hand to his countrymen.

Shortly after winning the 19th Asian Games gold medal last month, Obiena rushed home to thank his supporters and auction off some personal items to raise funds to finance the construction of training pits for less fortunate pole vaulters in the country.

That's why the accusation Lavillenie aired on a social media platform was a punch in the gut not only to Obiena and his team, especially Petrov, but also to the Filipino people.

For a country that is still nursing a broken heart after its basketball hero — naturalized player Justin Brownlee — tested positive for a banned substance in the aftermath of the Asian Games, hearing that Obiena supposedly cheated his way to greatness was a serious and very painful accusation that degraded and belittled the abilities, determination and hard work of Filipino athletes.

It was a major insult that drew the ire of sports fans and lawmakers like Sen. Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go.

But Obiena knows how to fight back.

Instead of staying mum, he warned his accuser that he would explore his legal options while challenging her to undergo a lie detector test so they would know who was the liar.

Lavillenie didn't bite but instead apologized, saying that she was sincerely sorry for the "stupid amalgam" she made in her now-deleted comment on Facebook. Obiena accepted the apology and moved on.

Next year, Obiena will fly to Paris to compete in the Summer Olympics.

Lavillenie, given her status, will surely be there not just to serve as a spectator but to eat humble pie from the stands as Obiena — a Filipino — vaults his way to glory.

After all, winning is the greatest form of vindication.