Obiena first took up pole vaulting when he was eight years old, but initially focused on hurdles. His father, Emerson Obiena served as his coach until he was 18 years old.[13] Obiena competed in the 100 and 400 meter hurdles events for his high school, Chiang Kai Shek College.[10] Unable to qualify for regional meets, he decided to return to pole vaulting when he was in his last years in high school, in a bid to secure a college scholarship.[13]
This section is missing information about the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page.(November 2024)
In early 2014, Obiena was able to meet Ukrainian pole vaulter Sergey Bubka who was visiting the Philippines. Originally, he only intended to get an autograph from Bubka, but learned from him of an opportunity to train in Italy.[13] In the same year for three months, Obiena travelled to Italy to train under coach Vitaly Petrov in Formia, who also previously coached Bubka.[15] On 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 was still 18 years old. The previous record was 4.31 meters set three years before.[15]
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.[citation needed]
In the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, Obiena won a silver medal with a leap of 5.25 meters, then his personal record.[16]
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 a broken pole.[citation needed]
Obiena won gold in the men's pole vault event at the 2019 Summer Universiade[17] setting a new national record of 5.76 meters. He secured a berth in the 2020 Summer Olympics by surpassing the qualifying standard by making a 5.81 meters height in a tournament in Chiara, Italy on September 3, 2019. The height was also a national record.[18]
The COVID-19 pandemic caused the postponement of the Olympics and travel restrictions imposed by countries in response to the health crisis posed logistical issues to Obiena's preparations. For most of 2020, Obiena spent his time training in Formia, Italy, and was unable to go back to the Philippines during the Christmas season. He trained under American conditioning coach James Michael Lafferty and Nutritionist Carol Lafferty; along with Brazilian Thiago Braz as his training partner.[19] Competing in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Obiena managed to advance to the final of the pole vault competition but failed to make the podium.[20]
Obiena set a then Asian record in pole vault when he lifted his best vault all the way to 5.93 meters at the International Golden Roof Challenge in Innsbruck, Austria on September 12, 2021. He won the tournament.[21] This record was later broken on July 25, 2022, when Obiena lifted his best vault all the way to 5.94 meters at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, United States. He won a bronze medal, becoming the first Filipino to win a medal in the tournament.[22]
In June 2023, Obiena cleared 6 meters for the first time at the Sparebanken Vest Bergen Jump Challenge in Norway also resetting the Asian record.[23] He was able to accomplish said feat due to shifting to a 20-step technique from the previous 18-steps approach.[24] He was then ranked world No. 2 in men's pole vault by the 2023 World Athletics Rankings, just behind Armand Duplantis.[25]
In November 2021, the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) publicly escalated an accounting dispute involving late payments to Obiena's coach, Vitaly Petrov. Petrov later denied there was any payment issue with Obiena.[30][31] Philippine Senators quickly came to Obiena's defense, calling unproven accusations "harassment" against an athlete considered a national treasure and passing a motion to recall the budget of the PSC. The Senators later approved the PSC budget with the condition that PATAFA will “rectify the grave injustice” done to Obiena's reputation. During congressional hearings, witnesses testified that PATAFA's payment system is broken.[32][33][34][35]
After an investigation by its Ethics Committee, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) declared PATAFA's president Philip Juico persona non grata for his role in the harassment of Obiena. The investigation of the POC's ethics committee concluded that Juico had harassed the athlete by making "malicious public accusations".[36][37]
On March 30, 2022, the Philippine Sports Commission announced that both parties reached an agreement during a mediation process. Obiena will be endorsed by PATAFA in any future competitions.[38]
Philip Ella Juico is a Filipino sports official. He is the chairman emeritus of the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA), the NSA for athletics in the Philippines. He was president of PATAFA from 2015 to 2022.
The Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) is the National Sports Association (NSA) for athletics sports such as track and field, road running, cross country running, and racewalking in the Philippines, including the core athletics sports which constitute the Decathlon in the Olympic Games. PATAFA is also a member of the Asian Athletics (AA) and the World Athletics.
The Philippines national athletics team represents the Philippines at the international athletics competitions such as Olympic Games or World Athletics Championships. Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) is the governing body of athletics in the Philippines. The first participation of the Philippines in an international competition was at the Far Eastern Games in 1913. As for the olympics, their first participation began in 1924 and has continued every summer olympics except for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The first win that the Philippines national athletics team had won though was the olympic games, receiving a bronze medal in the Men's 200 meters breaststroke, won by Teófilo Yldefonso, in the 1928 Amsterdam summer Olympics.
The Philippines competed at the 30th Southeast Asian Games which was hosted by them from 30 November to 11 December 2019. This was the fourth time that the country hosted the biennial meet.
Emerson Obiena is a Filipino pole vaulter and coach. Obiena was silver medalist at the 1993 Southeast Asian Games finishing behind fellow countryman, Edward Lasquete in the pole vault event and at the 1999 Southeast Asian Games. The last medal he won in an international competition was a bronze, which he obtained at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games.
Carlos Edriel Poquiz Yulo is a Filipino artistic gymnast. He is the 2024 Olympic gold medalist at the floor exercise and vault events. He is the first Filipino and the first male Southeast Asian gymnast to medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships with his floor exercise bronze medal finish in 2018, as well as the first Filipino and Southeast Asian to achieve a gold medal finish for the same criteria in 2019 at the same event. With multiple medals on the international stage, Yulo is the second person to win an Olympic gold medal for the Philippines, the first person to win multiple Olympic gold medals for the country, and the first Southeast Asian athlete to win multiple gold medals at the Olympic Games.
The Philippines competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the nation's official debut in 1924, Filipino athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games except the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of the nation's partial support for the US-led boycott.
The following is a list of notable events and developments that are related to Philippine sports in 2020.
Persona non grata, in the context of Philippine governance parlance, refers individuals or groups declared as unwelcome in a particular locality. This designation is merely symbolic and non-binding, and does not legally prohibit a person declared as persona non grata from stepping foot on that locality.
The Philippines competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024, celebrating the centenary of the team's debut in the same city. Filipino athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games from 1924 onwards, except for Moscow 1980 when the nation was part of the American-led boycott.
The following is a list of notable events and developments that are related to Philippine sports in 2022.
In late 2021, the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA), led by President Philip Juico, initiated a dispute with Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena involving the liquidation of finances related to the salary of Obiena's coach Vitaliy Petrov.
The Philippines competed at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China from 23 September to 8 October 2023. Originally scheduled to take place in 2022, the Games were postponed and rescheduled to 2023, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Philippines competed at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from 15–24 July 2022. The Philippines was represented by a lone athlete; pole vaulter Ernest Obiena.
The men's pole vault at the 2022 World Athletics Championships was held at the Hayward Field in Eugene on 22 and 24 July 2022. The winning margin was 0.27 metres which as of 2024 is the only time the men's pole vault has been won by more than 0.2 metres at these championships.
The following is a list of notable events and developments that are related to Philippine sports in 2023.
The Philippines competed at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, from 19 to 27 August 2023. The Philippines won their first ever silver medal in the championship, courtesy of pole vaulter EJ Obiena.
The 2024 San Miguel Corporation (SMC)-Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Annual Awards Night was an annual awarding ceremony honoring the individuals teams and organizations that had made significant contributions to the continuous growth of Philippine sports in 2023.
The following is a list of notable events and developments related to Philippine sports in 2024.
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