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EJ Obiena shifts priority to outdoor season: ‘I believe my best vaults are ahead’

Article (news)

Peter Andrew Acierto

Push Team

<p>Filipino Olympian EJ Obiena gave an update to his followers on social media about his decision to not participate in the 2025 World Indoor Championships. In his post, the champion pole vaulter expressed that he will prioritize the outdoor season due to the limited preparation time he has for the indoor season.</p><div><br/></div><iframe class="instagram-media" id="instagram-embed-5" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/DGx1vehMkvm/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=540&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A5%2C%22os%22%3A3418662.1999999997%2C%22ls%22%3A2463458.4%2C%22le%22%3A2464064.9%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="0" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-5" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px;min-width:326px;padding:0px;position:absolute"></iframe><blockquote class=" instagram-media-registered" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/DGx1vehMkvm/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" id="instagram-media-payload-5" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:16px"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DGx1vehMkvm/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="background:#FFFFFF;line-height:0;padding:0 0;text-align:center;text-decoration:none;width:100%" target="_blank"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;align-items:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:40px;margin-right:14px;width:40px"><br/></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:100px"><br/></div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:60px"><br/></div></div></div><div style="padding:19% 0"><br/></div><div style="display:block;height:50px;margin:0 auto 12px;width:50px"><br/></div><div style="padding-top:8px"><div style="color:#3897f0;line-height:18px">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding:12.5% 0"><br/></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;margin-bottom:14px;align-items:center"><div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(0px) translateY(7px)"><br/></div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;height:12.5px;transform:rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px);width:12.5px;flex-grow:0;margin-right:14px;margin-left:2px"><br/></div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(9px) translateY(-18px)"><br/></div></div><div style="margin-left:8px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:20px;width:20px"><br/></div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:2px solid transparent;border-left:6px solid #f4f4f4;border-bottom:2px solid transparent;transform:translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"><br/></div></div><div style="margin-left:auto"><div style="width:0px;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-right:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(16px)"><br/></div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;flex-grow:0;height:12px;width:16px;transform:translateY(-4px)"><br/></div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-left:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(-4px) translateX(8px)"><br/></div></div></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center;margin-bottom:24px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:224px"><br/></div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:144px"><br/></div></div></a><div style="color:#c9c8cd;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DGx1vehMkvm/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color:#c9c8cd;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by Ernest Obiena (@ernestobienapv)</a></div></div></blockquote><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><p>EJ has been focusing on his recovery back in 2024 right after his Paris Olympics 2024 stint. He has been consistent in updating his fans about his condition and has joined several competitions already.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/2024/8/7/ej-obiena-reflects-on-paris-2024-olympics-i-will-get-back-up-1039"><strong>READ: EJ Obiena reflects on Paris 2024 Olympics: ‘I will get back up’<br/></strong></a></div><p>“I wanted to share and provide you with an update on my status as we are in the midst of the indoor season and qualification period for the world indoor championships,” he wrote.</p><p>He shared how the past year has been full of challenges for him–– with his back pain turning out to be a fracture in his vertebrae, among others. He made sure to focus on his recovery in order to be back in better shape this year.</p><p>“2024 has been full of challenges. The start of back pain—which we later discovered was a fracture in one of my vertebrae—led to constant pain and I had to manage and adapt my vaulting technique to lessen the pain and make sure I get to Olympics with some fighting chance. This in-turn led me to altering my technique to adjust for limitations,” he recalled.</p><p>“I healed over end of 2024 and I am happy to say my back is fine. I am also happy to say that training is looking better and in some aspects better that they have ever been,” he added.</p><p>Because of this, EJ revealed that he decided to shift his priority to the outdoor season of pole vaulting as there won’t be anymore competitions left for him to participate in to be able to qualify in the upcoming 2025 World Indoor Championships.</p><p>“Even though there is still time to qualify for the World Indoor Championships, there are no more competitions left for me to participate. The last competition was on the 16th of February in Torun, Poland and the next one that I got is Mondo Classic on the 13th of March, which is already outside the qualification period,” he said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/2024/11/13/ej-obiena-s-dream-pole-vaulting-facility-becomes-a-reality-1032"><strong>READ: EJ Obiena’s dream pole vaulting facility becomes a reality<br/></strong></a></div><p>He assured his supporters that while they had stretched all possible ways to qualify for the indoors, there was no way to do so anymore. Which is why they’ll be shifting their priority to the outdoor season where he can go and compete in a healthier state.</p><p>“The indoor season is always a backseat to the outdoor season. I will hence prioritize and prepare for the upcoming outdoor competition. This is when I would represent the country in the World Championships, Asian Championships and SEA Games,” he said.</p><p>“The key is to go into the outdoor season healthy and ready to compete at the highest level. It is also important to defend what I have already achieved in these championships,” he continued.</p><p>EJ maintained that he is in better shape now and is preparing for the upcoming outdoor season.</p><p>“I believe my best vaults are ahead,” he ended. </p>

<p>The outdoor season for pole vaulting is where EJ Obiena will be focused on for this year. </p>

The outdoor season for pole vaulting is where EJ Obiena will be focused on for this year.