EJ Obiena thanked his supporters after finishing fourth in the men’s pole vault finals at the 2024 Paris Olympics early Tuesday at the Stade de France. In an interview with GMA Integrated News reporter JP Soriano, Obiena apologized for not securing a medal and expressed his heartfelt gratitude for the support he received.
“I want to say thank you, maraming salamat po, for all the support and love given. This journey from Tokyo to today has been truly worthwhile. We’ve been through a lot, and sometimes I feel I don’t deserve this, especially today. I fell short, and it’s the reality of sports. Maraming salamat pa rin to everyone who’s been supporting me, everybody who’s cheering me on and giving me all these very positive emotions. I do apologize for coming short. Such is life, and such is sport. We’ll see. We’ll see how it goes,” EJ said.
Obiena narrowly missed the podium, failing to clear 5.95 meters and placing behind Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis, the United States’ Sam Kendricks, and Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis. Karalis secured bronze through a countback tiebreaker, Kendricks took silver with a successful 5.95-meter jump on his first attempt, and Duplantis won gold, setting new Olympic and world records.
Despite his disappointment, Obiena’s fourth-place finish is a significant improvement from his 11th place in 2021, particularly given the back injury he suffered during his preparation. In other events, Lauren Hoffman was eliminated from the women’s 400-meter hurdles, while John Tolentino remains a medal hope for the Philippines in the 110-meter hurdles repechage.