Obiena exceeds Asiad expectations

Ernest John Obiena had little left in the tank but found just enough for one final jump to retain his Asian Games pole vault title and rewrite the meet record in dramatic fashion on Tuesday night at the Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya, Japan.

After struggling to clear 5.80 meters, the 30-year-old Obiena pulled off a shocker when he soared high to clear 5.91 meters to shatter the Asian Games record and shut down critics who are claiming that his glory days have already lapsed.

In the process, the world No. 11 also chalked his name on Philippine sports history as the only Filipino track and field athlete who successfully defended his Asian Games title since sprinters Inocencia Solis and Lydia de Vega-Mercado did the trick in 1958 and 1986, respectively.

“It’s been a long season. I’ve been here since the 20th, and I think it’s a little bit too long for me,” Obiena said in an interview with One Sports.

“Emotions definitely were high after the 5.91, but it felt like it’s something I needed to do.”

The victory also came with added pressure with Obiena regarded as one of the Philippines’ strongest medal bets heading into the Games.

“To be honest, going into the competition, I felt like there was more for me to lose than to win. Winning it was expected of me,” he said.

“When you achieve something and you go to the next one, that is what you expect to do. And anything less is a failure.”

Getting to 5.91m, however, was hardly comfortable.

Obiena cleared 5.70m and 5.75m almost consecutively before pushing through calf cramps as he went after the record.

He and his coach, Marcin Szczepański, had agreed before the Games that the priority was to win the gold, then make a run at the Games record.

“I think I have one good one in me,” Obiena recalled telling his Greek coach.

“So with that, I went for it. I’m just happy with that one shot. I didn’t have three. I had one chance for it, and I’m happy to have delivered and jumped it.”