Philippines’ EJ Obiena competes in the men’s pole vault final of the athletics event at the Paris Olympics Games at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 5, 2024. Image: AFP/Antonin Thuillier Despite narrowly missing a podium finish at the 2024 Paris Olympics, EJ Obiena earned overwhelming support from his countrymen, including National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario and Filipino celebrities. Obiena fell short of an Olympic medal at the men’s pole vault finals at Stade de France in Paris, France on early Tuesday, August 6 (Philippine Time) after missing all three attempts at 5.
95 meters. The gold medal was clinched by Armand Duplantis of Sweden, who also set a new world record of 6.25 meters.
Meanwhile, Sam Kendricks of the United States and Emmanouil Karalis of Greece bagged the silver and bronze medals, respectively. Obiena, who apologized to the Philippines for his fourth-place finish, was the subject of Almario’s poem, which is dedicated to the athletes who dedicated their lives to representing the country despite their losses. “Salamat EJ Obiena at sa lahat ng natálo.
Ang mahalaga’y ang laban at punyaging ’pinakita ng Pinoy sa buong mundo. Hindi baleng di ka bigyan ng pabuya at parada, ng negosyante’t ng trapo. Dibdib nami’y umaapaw, ang ligayang ika’y bida,” Almario wrote, using his pen name Rio Alma.
“Ni hindi mo isinuko, ang bandila ng iyong bayan. Sa pangakong pagtangkilik; hindi ka rin pinayuko ng hirap at tampal.