Chase for six meters

MANILA, Philippines — Only 25 pole vaulters the world over have cleared six meters and they come from 11 countries, none from Asia. The last three entries were registered in 2018 by Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis and Russia’s Timur Morgunov and this year by the US’ Chris Nilsen. The first to accomplish the feat was Ukraine’s Sergey Bubka who did it in 1985. Duplantis holds the world record of 6.19 meters set in Belgrade early this month.

EJ Obiena, the world’s No. 5 pole vaulter, recently said clearing six meters is “within my grasp.” His best leap is 5.93 meters, an Asian record. At the Perche Elite Tour in France two weeks ago, Obiena attempted to jump 6.01 meters but failed to clear the bar. He said his coach Vitality Petrov advised using bigger poles to soar over the mark. At the coming SEA Games, Obiena said he hopes to make history but didn’t mention if it means becoming the first Asian to join the six-meter club.

Obiena said vaulting is “a bit different crazy in a good way.” He explained that there’s a risk of suffering a major injury if a vaulter fails to land on the soft area of the pit and hits the ground after a free fall of over 18 feet. Execution has to be precise because the consequences are serious if a landing is faulty. “It’s not like missing a shot in basketball,” he said. But Obiena said he’s not discouraging aspiring athletes from trying to vault as after all, the starting point isn’t trying to jump six meters.

Obiena said since he was a boy, he fell in love with the free fall. The key to a successful jump is planting the pole on the right spot to elevate over the bar. Then, after the leap, it’s dropping down to the pit for the celebration. Obiena’s best jump so far this year was 5.91, a new national indoor record.

With his failure to compete at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Belgrade this week, Obiena said he will now regroup in his training base in Formia, Italy. He was in Padova training for the Belgrade meet when advised that PATAFA would not endorse his participation. PATAFA had agreed to a mediation with Obiena during a recent Senate hearing but four days later, brought the quarrel before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, prompting Sen. Pia Cayetano to file a motion citing the organization in contempt. POC president Cong. Bambol Tolentino then convened a special Executive Board meeting where PATAFA was suspended and stripped of authority as an NSA.

Tolentino has assured Obiena he will compete in the SEA Games, whether PATAFA likes it or not, because POC is the accrediting body for national athletes. Unfortunately, PATAFA is recognized as the endorsing entity by the international federation for the World Indoor Athletics Championships. So POC could not enlist Obiena for Belgrade. But for the SEA and Asian Games, POC holds sway. Obiena has been inflicted serious mental anguish by PATAFA in this squabble that should never have happened in the first place. He said the immediate priority is to assess what competitions to join without PATAFA’s endorsement to organize his training patterns.