Full name Ernest John Obiena Nationality Filipino Country Philippines Event Pole vault | Nickname(s) EJ Obiena Height 6 ft 2 in (1.9 m) Sport Track and field Other name EJ Obiena | |
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Born November 17, 1995 (age 21) ( 1995-11-17 ) Coaches Emerson Obiena, Vitaly Petrov (2014) | ||
Ernest John Obiena(born November 17, 1995) is a Filipino pole vaulter. He holds the national record in pole vaulting with a record of 5.55 meters which he accomplished in April 29, 2016 at the 78th Singapore Open Championships in Kallang, Singapore.
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Obiena is the first Filipino that have been given a scholarship from the International Athletic Association Federation (IAAF).
Early life and education
Ernest Obiena was born to track and field athletes, Emerson and Jeanette Obiena on November 17, 1995. Ernest attended the Chiang Kai Shek College for his high school studies and is a college student at the University of Santo Tomas.
Sporting career
Obiena used to compete at the 100 and 400 meter hurdles event for his high school, Chiang Kai Shek College. At the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), he competed for the University of Santo Tomas.
Obiena's father, Emerson serves as his coach, also formerly served as the former Athletics national team member.
In early 2014, for three months, Obiena with his father was given an opportunity to train under coach Vitaly Petrov in Formia, Italy who also previously coached Sergey Bubka. In July 20, 2014, at the PATAFA weekly relays held at the PhilSports Football and Athletics Stadium, Obiena broke the national record for pole vault by registering 5.01 meters. The previous record was 5.0 meters by Edward Lasquete at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. The junior national record was also broken, since Obiena at that time is 18 years old. The previous record was 4.31 set three years ago.
He later broke his own record several times in 2014 alone (5.05, 5.05, 5.15, 5.20, 5.21). By the time Obiena became ineligible for the national junior record, the record was 5.21 which Obiena set himself.
In the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, Obiena won a silver medal with a leap of 5.25 meters, that time his' personal record. Obiena won a gold medal in the 2016 Philippine National Games Finals in Lingayen, Pangasinan after breaking a new personal record (5.47 meters), despite problems with his broken pole.