Tolentino calls for reinstatement of EJ in PH team

Philippine Olympic Committee president Rep. Abraham Tolentino chastised the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) for excluding pole vaulter EJ Obiena from the national team.

“How many more gold medals should EJ win for him to be reinstated in the national pool?” Tolentino said. “The people just can’t wait long enough for a national athletic treasure to be ignored.”

Obiena bagged two gold medals in less than two weeks in Poland. He topped the Orlen Cup in Lodz on February 12 and the Orlen Copernicus Cup in Torun on February 23. He ruled both tournaments with similar leaps of 5.81 meters.

Obiena, who owns the Asian record of 5.93 meters, started the 2022 season by undergoing surgery in January to clean his meniscus and remove the screw that was placed in his knee during an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction procedure in 2017. He has since competed in five tournaments in the European indoor circuit under a calculated training and competition program with Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov.

“If the SEA [Southeast Asian] Games and even the Asian Games are held tomorrow, EJ will easily sweep the gold medals in both competitions,” Tolentino said. “EJ is a guaranteed gold winner in both.”

Tolentino said Obiena can easily surpass the existing Asian Games record of 5.70 meters set by Seito Yamamoto of Japan in Jakarta 2018.

The SEA Games record is owned by Obiena who cleared 5.45 meters at the New Clark City in December 2019.

“Looking at EJ’s 5.45 meters in winning gold in the 2019 SEA Games and his present numbers, it’s definitely a big leap for him,” Tolentino said.

Patafa president Philip Ella Juico confirmed that EJ is not included in the national training pool and his reinstatement remains a subject of internal discussion.