POC laments Obiena’s exclusion from national pool despite victories

MANILA -- The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) praised Ernest John “EJ” Obiena, who has already earned two gold medals in the European indoor circuit this year.

POC president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, however, lamented the Asian record holder’s continued exclusion from the athletics association’s national pool.

“How many more gold medals should EJ win for him to be reinstated in the national pool?” Tolentino asked Thursday. “The people just can’t wait long enough for a national athletic treasure to be ignored.”

Obiena picked up two gold medals in a 10-day span — the first at the Orlen Cup (Lodz) and the second at the Orlen Copernicus Cup (Torun Arena), both in Poland.

• EJ Obiena tops Copernicus Cup in Poland

He won both with similar leaps of 5.81 meters.

The 26-year-old Obiena started the season by undergoing surgery in January to fix a left knee injury. He has since competed in five meets in the European indoor circuit under a calculated training and competition program with renowned Ukranian coach Vitaly Petrov.

“If the SEA [Southeast Asian] Games and even the Asian Games are held tomorrow, EJ will easily sweep the gold medals in both competitions,” Tolentino said. “It’s crystal clear, EJ is a guaranteed gold winner in both.”

Obiena owns the Asian record in men’s pole vault of 5.93 meters which he set last September in Innsbruck, Austria — easily surpassing the Asian Games record of 5.70 meters set by Japan’s Seito Yamamoto in Jakarta 2018.

In the SEA Games, Obiena set the record of 5.45 meters at the New Clark City in December 2019.

• Obiena tops Poland pole-vault tourney for 1st win of the year

“Looking at EJ’s 5.45 meters in winning gold in the 2019 SEA Games and his present numbers, it’s definitely a big leap for him,” Tolentino said.

The Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association leadership confirmed in Tuesday’s online Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum that the Tokyo Olympian is not in the association’s national pool and his reinstatement remains a subject of their discussion.