Blessing in disguise

EJ Obiena’s last chance to qualify for the World Athletics Ultimate Championships went up in smoke as he stumbled out of contention with a silver medal on a 5.75m clearance at the Domspringen International Meet in Wesel, Germany, yesterday morning (Manila time). Obiena attempted to jump 5.85m thrice but failed.

But skipping the Ultimate Championships in Budapest on Sept. 11-13 may be a blessing in disguise. Obiena also didn’t qualify for the Diamond League Final in Brussels this weekend as he couldn’t muster the required qualifying points after sitting out six of 10 legs. He missed the Diamond League legs in Shanghai, Stockholm, Oslo, Paris, Monaco and London. His absence in Brussels and Budapest will mean more rest and recovery before Obiena competes at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Sept. 29.

In pursuing qualification for Brussels and Budapest, Obiena joined six competitions in two weeks, moving from Poland to Switzerland back to Poland back to Switzerland to Germany. The grind was grueling and took a toll on Obiena. “Too much travel and back-to-back competitions,” said Obiena’s adviser Jim Lafferty. “Recovery is critical. Two weeks in Athens to train and recover then he’ll be ready for the Asian Games.”

Obiena, however, isn’t ruling out competitions just yet until Nagoya. “I’m waiting,” he said. “I’ll talk to my team and see what we have as there are roughly 27 days until the Asian Games.”

Lafferty said he predicts big things in Nagoya. “EJ’s coming together and healthy,” said Lafferty.  “He just needs a few more weeks of jumps. His attitude is just fabulous, a champion’s mindset, no excuses. I know he’s fatigued with heavy travels and competition schedule. I wouldn’t mind he heads back to Athens and gets ready. That’s the way to end the season with a gold in the Asian Games and a new record.”

This year, Obiena got off to a slow start and didn’t compete until late January then sat out nearly three months before ramping up in June. From January to March, Obiena had 10 competitions, cleared up to 5.78m with three first place finishes. From June to Sept. 1, he entered 16 meets, soared at least 5.90m twice and bagged six golds. He’s ranked World No. 12 and his closest Asian rival is Qatar’s Seifeldin Abdelsalam at No. 15. The battle for gold in Nagoya will likely go down to a duel between Obiena and Abdelsalam. The next contender is No. 20 Li Chenyang of China. Abdelsalam is 21 and Chenyang, 23 while Obiena turns 31 in November. Abdelsalam’s highest clearance is 5.90m. Chenyang’s best is 5.86m. Obiena jumped 6.00m twice in 2023 and was once ranked World No. 2.