Olympian EJ Obiena on growing up: 'My dad was my superhero’

Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena is on top of the world, or on top of the world I rankings at No. 2, six weeks from the opening of the 2024 Paris Olympics. He is also a man of intense focus.

- TANYA LARA

EJ has just had an amazing month. Two weeks ago, he tied for silver at the Oslo Bislett Games in Norway; four weeks ago, he took the gold at the USA Track and Field Los Angeles Grand Prix. In Bergen, he cleared 6 meters for the first time, erasing his previous record of 5.94 in July 2022 when he bagged the bronze at the World Athletics Championship.

The PLDT Home ambassador is currently training in Formia on the Mediterranean coast of Lazio, Italy. With Father's Day coming up, EJ says that he is going to arrange an online call with his dad Emerson Obiena on Father's Day, which he always does when he's training overseas. When he's in Manila, the family usually orders pizza, "not really like a bongga celebration."

EJ says that the Obiena household has always been a PLDT subscriber "from as far back as I can remember. Our first internet service at home was already PLDT." Like many Filipino athletes that train far from home for long periods, PLDT Home allows his family in Manila to keep in touch with him especially his mom with whom he has a very close relationship and be updated on his competitions and well-being.

DAD AS HIS COACH

Dad Emerson Obiena was his coach until EJ was 18 years old. Emerson Obiena was a member of the Philippine National Pole Vault Team and won the silver medal at the 1995 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand "I think I was around six or eight years old when I first held a pole in my hands," EJ says.