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Embattled Obiena out of World Indoor Championships

Sports

Embattled Obiena out of World Indoor Championships

By Carlo Anolin

EJ Obiena will not compete in the World Athletics Indoor Championships set March 18 to 20 in Belgrade, Serbia, the elite pole vaulter announced Saturday, March 12, in a social media post.

EJ Obiena (Photo from EJ Obiena's Facebook page)

Obiena, through a post on his official Facebook post, bared the development and revealed he was unendorsed for the Worlds with the registration now closed.

The 26-year-old Obiena, the holder of the national and Asian record of 5.93 meters, furthered: "I am the only top-ranked vaulter not participating."

"If country was ever put first, I should be headed to Belgrade now. But I am not. I will watch it on TV like millions of others. I will see other nations take the medal that Philippines should be winning," wrote Obiena.

"I shed a tear now with a heavy heart, but not just for myself. I shed a tear for my country. We had a chance to show the world our greatness. And we lost it."

Earlier, Obiena, the reigning Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, was also excluded from the list submitted by the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) for the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi Vietnam in May.

Patafa, for its part, through president Philip Juico, explained that the mediation process between the association and Obiena must be settled first before endorsing the world No. 5 pole vaulter.

Philippine Olympic Committee chief Bambol Tolentino came to Obiena's defense and included his name to the organizers of the SEA Games.

Obiena executed his season-best of 5.91m in Rouen, France over the weekend and since then has won two indoor titles in six tournaments.

Related Tags

World Athletics Indoor Championships World Athletics EJ Obiena Patafa

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