EJ: I’m sorry: Obiena melts under bright lights of Paris

The medal that the Filipinos have been waiting for didn’t come.

And the one who was supposed to deliver the mint was humble enough to say “I’m sorry.”

With the massive weight of the country’s expectations on his shoulders, Ernest John “EJ” Obiena completely faded, bombing out of the medal podium in the men’s pole vault event of the Paris Olympics past midnight on Tuesday (Manila time).

Obiena, who was heavily being counted on to deliver based on his lofty status as the second-best pole vaulter in the world, huffed and puffed in the preliminaries before getting completely blown out by the opposition in the final round with 5.90 meters to settle for a disappointing fourth-place finish.

Armand Duplantis, the best vaulter in the world, turned the event into his personal stage as he dazzled the crowd with a record-breaking performance of 6.25 meters while Sam Kendricks of the United States posted 5.95 meters for the silver medal and Emmanouil Karalis of Greece took the bronze via countback with 5.90 meters.

But Duplantis was the star of the show.

After getting beaten by Obiena in the Diamond League in Monaco last April, the 25-year-old Swedish delivered a performance to remember. And when he set his final vault at 6.25 meters to break the world and Olympic record of 6.24 meters, the crowd inside the 80,000-seater Stade de France went wild with his father and coach in retired pole vaulter Greg Duplantis seen pumping his chest.

Duplantis’ conquest made him the first back-to-back pole vault champion in the Olympics since American Bob Richards, who won in the 1952 Helsinki Games and in the 1956 Melbourne Games.

Obiena, for his part, quietly disappeared into the thickness of the crowd before breaking down in tears when he talked to a Filipino journalist.

“It’s painful. I missed the medal by one jump and it wasn’t far, on my attempt of 95. I fell short and I think this one, it’s not painful maybe as much,” said Obiena, who failed to clear 5.95 meters despite having a personal-best of 6.0 meters that he set in a tournament in Norway.

“You know, there’s a lot of things that happened this year. I’m thankful that I got to the final, definitely. But at the same time, I’m disappointed because it wasn’t far.”

“It’s like literally the same height. And I missed it by one attempt. One attempt at an Olympic medal.”

Obiena’s botched mission was a major blackeye to the Filipinos, who are looking to cap their greatest Olympic participation with another gold medal to add to the achievements set by gymnast Carlos Yulo over the weekend.

With Obiena — and his chance to cement his legacy in the birthplace of the country’s Olympic participation in Paris — already gone, the hopes of the Filipinos now rest on a pair of female boxers in Aira Villegas and Nesthy Petecio.

Villegas, the silver medalist in Tokyo three years ago, is scheduled to climb the ring to face Buse Naz Cakiroglu of Turkey in the women’s 50-kilogram semifinals on Wednesday at 4 a.m. (Manila time).

Then, it will be Petecio’s turn to shoot for a final spot when she battles Julia Szeremeta of Poland in the women’s 57-kg semifinals on Thursday at 3:46 a.m. (Manila time).

Obiena said he could have added to the country’s medal haul but he fell short.

“I came up short. So, I’m really sorry. I apologize for it,” Obiena said.

“I promised I’m going to go back after Tokyo and do better. I did, but it wasn’t really, I would say it didn’t change in my book. It’s still, I came up short. So, I’m really sorry. I apologize for it.”

Obiena admitted that his Ukrainian coach, Vitaly Petrov, had assured him that winning and losing are part of being an elite athlete. After all, he has been competing with an injury since last April.

“He (Petrov) said that it’s not the end of the world, but I did feel like it’s the end of the world right now. I needed to take time to reflect on the whole thing and everything I’ve been through and everything,” Obiena said.

“That’s where I think my emotions got to come out because it’s not something I expected. It’s not something I was aiming for. I’m happy for everybody who got the medal. They deserve it.”