EJ Obiena ‘reborn’ after record-breaking Asian Games triumph

ROAR. Pole vaulter EJ Obiena in action for the Philippines in the 2026 Asian Games.

PSC-POC Media Pool

After two years of career struggles, EJ Obiena now sees pole vault in a different light, with his resurgence reaching a golden high as he claims his second Asian Games title

AT A GLANCE

• EJ Obiena successfully defended his Asian Games pole vault title, setting a new record of 5.91 meters.
• Obiena expressed a renewed joy and perspective towards the sport, contrasting his previous struggles and a disappointing Olympic performance.
• He has shown promising results in recent competitions, indicating a potential return to form and excitement for training.

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MANILA, Philippines – EJ Obiena is not only rediscovering his old form but also the joy that drew him to pole vault.

And it showed in his latest golden conquest as Obiena defended his Asian Games crown, delivering a record-breaking performance to repeat as the men’s pole vault champion at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium in Japan on Tuesday, September 29.

Obiena established a new Asian Games mark of 5.91 meters, eclipsing the previous record of 5.90 meters he set during his maiden victory in the 2023 edition in Hangzhou, China. 

“I think I was not enjoying the sport as much as I should and I think that took a toll on me, in a way. Like I’m not feeling the excitement, I feel — I wouldn’t say empty — but kind of empty, like without the excitement, without the feeling of the pressure, without what I felt today. It’s been a while,” Obiena told Filipino reporters. 

“To be honest, I missed it. With that, I would say it was a bit of a reborn. I see the sport in a much different perspective than it was — a little bit of fun, a little bit of reality.” 

After clearing the record height, Obiena screamed at the top of his lungs, thumped his chest, and basked in the cheers of a small but raucous Filipino crowd that witnessed him become only the fourth back-to-back Asian Games champion in the event and the first since Kazakhstan’s Igor Potapovich (1994 and 1998).

Obiena also became the first Filipino to retain an athletics title in the Asian Games since the late great Lydia de Vega won the women’s 100m crown in 1982 and 1986.

The celebratory scenes stood in stark contrast to his heartbreaking fourth-place finish in the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Obiena tearfully apologized to the nation after missing out on the bronze by just a single attempt.

A series of career setbacks followed that Olympic run as Obiena — once ranked second in the world — fell outside the top 10 and failed to produce marks that he regularly achieved at the peak of his powers. 

But his recent results, including five first-place finishes in his last nine meets, suggest that Obiena still has more to show.

Obiena is even surprised that he looks forward to getting back to work. 

“As long as I’m having fun, I think I’m going to keep jumping. That is something new for me, to be honest. That’s something I never thought I would ever see myself do. With that, I need to understand why exactly am I doing that and kind of regroup myself and see why exactly am I excited to go to training, which I probably shouldn’t,” he said. 

“I have this different situation, different aura. It’s difficult to describe because I still don’t know it.” 

Obiena has plenty of time to process his emotions as he returned home to the Philippines for some much-deserved downtime with friends and family. – Rappler.com