‘It’s a welcome surprise:’ How EJ Obiena turned doubts to fuel an unexpected comeback

MANILA – At the start of the 2026 season, Olympic pole vaulter EJ Obiena admitted that even he could not have predicted how his year would unfold.

For much of the season, Obiena was chasing to return to his old self or even surpass what he has achieved as a pole vaulter.

After defending his Asian Games pole vault title in Nagoya, Obiena looked back a campaign that exceeded even his own expectations, especially after enduring a period of doubt midway through the season.

The pride of Manila entered the year determined to succeed, but there was no guarantee that everything would fall into place.

“It’s something I honestly am surprised. It’s a welcome surprise, but it’s something that I also aim for,” Obiena told ABS-CBN News during the sidelines of his visit to his alma mater Chiang Kai Shek College on Wednesday.

“Like it’s not like I saw a vision of me like that. I wanted this to be the outcome. But you never really know. You truly put in the work,” he added.

Obiena previously shared that he found himself unable to get over 5.80m, which left him wondering if he could get back to the heights he was leaping before.

“Halfway across the season, I was in doubts. I was like, hey, I’m not jumping over 5.80. Like, what are we going to do now?” he recalled.

In July, Obiena made the tough decision with the blessing of his longtime mentor and coach Vitaly Petrov to make the move from Formia, Italy to Athens, Greece.

The 30-year-old went on to change coaches as well and has been training alongside fellow Olympian Emmanouil Karalis.  

“All credits to my old coach, Vitaly. He trained me. He did my foundation preparation. He built the pole water that I am now. But also, now the new team has been nothing short of helpful for me,” Obiena explained.

“Like having a different perspective, having this, how do you say, renewed vision and to have this want and enjoy every moment in training is unique. And that’s not from me. It came from the group. It came from my training partner, Emmanouil [Karalis], who has definitely taught me quite a bit in this last couple of months,” he added.

Obiena went on to string together a strong campaign before capping it with another Asian Games gold medal, clearing 5.91 meters for a new Games record in Nagoya.

For the two-time Olympian, the achievement hit different because it was never something he saw coming early on in the season.

“It would be a lie to say that, yeah, I knew it’s going to happen. No, I didn’t. And that’s why I think my emotions are truly out there. Because it’s something that I didn’t expect,” he said.

Looking back, Obiena said the season as a whole unfolded in a way he never imagined, but ultimately the outcome he had been working toward came along in the end.

As he caps off his outdoor season on a high note despite the Nagoya rains, Obiena is looking forward to the indoor season where he and his coaches can try out new things that will hopefully get him to 6.0m and beyond.

“So with that, I think it gave me where I’m at, like how my performance in Nagoya considering the weather is, I would say, impeccable in that sense. I believe if the weather is a little bit better, I could have jumped higher. I definitely believe that,” he shared.

“There’s a few things that probably we’re going to adjust to… probably a bigger pole, higher grip. That’s something that my new coach wants to experiment on. So, yeah, the timing of it, everything is like kind of a chain effect. So we’ll see,” Obiena said.

The pride of Manila is currently back in the top 10 of the men’s pole vault world rankings, after dropping to No. 14 last year.

Next year will be another busy year for Obiena with the main goal of qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, which would mark his third appearance at the Summer Games.

Obiena is expected to compete at the Asian Championships in May, World Championships and the Southeast Asian Games in September including other meets.