Ernest John Obiena admitted it was weird of him to be calm after missing his first two attempts at 5.60 meters in the men’s pole vault qualification at the Paris Olympics.

And all it took was some pep talk from his Ukrainian mentor Vitaly Petrov.

“‘We missed two attempts at 60 and you wanna go at 70? And I haven’t made a bar. Are you sure?’” Obiena said as he recalled his conversation with Petrov.

“And he said, ‘Yeah, move up a pole.’ Internally I was like, ‘why are you so calm? I’m very stressed out and you’re so calm. My dream was on the line in one jump.”

Obiena heeded the Ukrainian mentor’s advice and cleared 5.70m in one jump as he eventually qualified for the final, which is ongoing at press time.

“I just did what he told me and executed and after that we’re pretty chill. We didn’t really need to jump (5.75m) but it got me into the rhythm,” Obiena said.

“After that, I didn’t wanna express so much emotion. But dude, three years of things I’ve gone through and everything was on the line.”

The 28-year-old pole vaulter is competing in the final at the Stade de France against the likes of world champion and Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Armand Duplantis of Sweden and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games bronze medalist Sam Kendricks of the United States.

Obiena knows Petrov’s guidance is what propelled him into becoming of the world’s top pole vaulters.

Under the Ukrainian’s guidance, Obiena is now the world No. 2 pole vaulter behind Duplantis and constantly competes in Europe, including the prestigious Diamond League.

The 78-year-old mentor is also the reason Obiena clinched a bronze and a silver medal in the World Athletics Championships in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Obiena has a chance to add a medal in the country’s growing bounty that was bannered by two gold medals courtesy of gymnast Carlos Yulo.

Whatever happens at the Stade de France, Obiena will be ready to listen to Petrov’s wisdom as he represents the Philippines in the biggest multi-sport conclave.