Shekinah Jedidiah Alima

World no. 2 Pole Vaulter EJ Obiena expressed his pain and apology after settling for 4th place in the men’s pole vault final at Stade de France yesterday.

“I’m sorry. I apologize for it,” teary-eyed Obiena stated in an interview.

Photo Courtesy of OneSports.

Obiena, who rose from 11th place in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to 4th place on Paris Olympics shared that he wanted to make an improvement on his previous performance but still fell short on it.

“I apologize. I promised I was going to go back after Tokyo and do better. I did, but…it didn’t change in my book,” he explained.

He also stressed that he was disappointed with his performance despite being grateful that he made it to the finals.

“There’s a lot of things that happened this year. I’m thankful that I got to the final, definitely. But at the same time, I’m disappointed because it wasn’t far. It’s literally the same height. I missed it by one attempt,” Obiena reiterated.

Obiena successfully cleared the 5.50, 5.70 5.85 and 5.90 meters, but he failed when he hit the bar at 5.95 meter-mark with no attempts left.

He highlighted the gap between himself and the medalists which the Thomasian pole vaulter defined as brutal.

“I missed one attempt and I think that really defined the medalist to the non-medalist. Sports is beautiful but also brutal.”

Obiena, whose eyes are on the Olympics, was unable to bring home the Philippines’ first medal in pole vault.

On a Facebook post, he expressed his gratitude to those who supported him and for his Olympic journey that was filled with struggles along the way.

“I first want to say thank you to everyone who has followed, supported, and believed in me,” Obiena penned.

“On a positive note I am proud of what I was actually able to stitch together for this Olympics, with all the struggles that came with this year; but still it hurts to be this close to an Olympic Medal.”

He also stressed that his current placement at the Olympics which is one step further from the podium is “the harshest place to be.”

“4th place is painful to say the least; and in sports with three podium places, perhaps 4th is the harshest place to be. I am heartbroken that a single failure cost me and cost a nation I so deeply love—the podium,” Obiena added.

In his note, he apologized again for the outcome of his pole vault stint but reassured the nation that he will come back stronger.

“I apologise for this outcome; such is life as the world of competitive sports can be exhilarating at times, and painful at others. “

“I am sorry I didn’t join him on the podium but I will be back.  “The good get up” as they say.  I have been knocked down. But I will get back up,” Obiena stated after commending the county’s double Gold medalist, gymnast Carlos Yulo.

“Carlos Yulo has already made this an Olympics to remember and I salute him,” he stated.

Sweden’s Armand Duplantis successfully cleared the 6.25 meter mark, breaking his World Record and Personal Best, and the previous Olympic Record of 6.03 meters by Brazil’s Thiago Braz.

The United States’ Sam Kendricks brought home the silver medal by clearing the 5.95 meter mark, while Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis won the silver medal with 5.90 meters.