EJ in the news
HANGZHOU – Men’s pole vault champion EJ Obiena of the Philippines made news by setting a new Asian Games record of 5.90 meters last Saturday. For that, he landed in the inside pages of the Asiad Daily, an eight-page, English-written tabloid that tells about the exploits of the thousands of athletes competing here. Obiena, 27, was in the news Monday. “Philippines pole vaulter raises the bar,” said the story head, referring to world No. 2 and Italy-trained pole vaulter who delivered his country’s first athletics gold in the Asian Games since 1986, the year of the popular EDSA Revolution. That’s how long his country waited for another gold after the late Lydia de Vega ruled the century dash in Seoul. “I’m excited to take this medal, put it on a shelf,” Obiena was quoted as saying. “To me this is the biggest job. Our country needed it. And it’s my job to bring it,” he told Pinoy mediamen here. Obiena is back home to celebrate the victory with his countrymen and his family – and left his fine footprints here.
