Ernest John Obiena wants to get treat his injured back following a fourth-place finish in the men’s pole vault event of the Paris Olympics.
Obiena, the second-best pole vaulter in the world, said he has to make sure that there is no damage in his back before plotting his next course of action in his stellar athletic career.
Contrary to what was expected, the 28-year-old Obiena bombed out of the medal podium after failing to clear the 5.95-meter mark in three tries.
With that, he settled for 5.90m and faded completely in the luster of world record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden, Sam Kendricks of the United States and Emmanouil Karalis of Greece.
“We kind of postponed what exactly is the problem with my back. Therefore, first I need to address that and check if it’s okay for me to compete,” Obiena said in a news conference from the French capital.
“The reason we’re looking at it is for the long-term approach. We’ll take it one day at a time and we’ll see.”
“If I feel like how I felt this past week, I think there’s no reason for me to stop and there’s no reason for me to not finish the season and continue fighting for the points.”
Obiena has been competing with a nagging back injury since April.
Still, he went on to win the Los Angeles Grand Prix in California last May and in two competitions in Poland last June: The 6th Irena Szewińska Memorial in Bydgoszcz and the Memorial Czesław Cybulskiego in Poznan.
But in the tournament that matters — the Paris Olympics — Obiena faded as he huffed and puffed in the preliminaries before bowing in the final round.
He, however, couldn’t say whether he will give the Olympics one last try in Los Angeles in 2028.
“This year, I’m there, and it’s not a question if I can compete. By willing to do all the sacrifices again, and be able to live my life, that’s some long discussion and long thinking I need to do,” Obiena said.
“I hope you guys understand that’s why it’s not that I’m saying that LA is a picture, it’s the competitive side of me. If LA is tomorrow, I’ll probably be there but we’ll see.”