A new lease on Obiena's athletic life.
Olympian EJ Obiena nearly had a taste of a different life—one where he did not wear the name and colors of the Philippines. Bouncing back from his troubles with the national athletic federation gave him a lot of fire.
"I did feel exhausted. I did feel tired," Obiena told Noli Eala on Saturday's Power & Play on Radyo5.
The pole vaulter was recounting how his psychologist found what he was looking for.
"She's been telling that [there] was fire in me. It took a while," he recounted. "Probably, I was given the perspective of another life when I had that issue last year."
"It's harder. At the same time, I found my why, my reason. And I do enjoy what I do now."
Recall that the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) accused Obiena of failing to liquidate his finances—particularly with thes salary of his coach Vitaliy Petrov. It got to the point where Obiena was threatened of being removed from the national team, along with charges against him and Petrov.
After a months-long public feud and several mediations, the two camps finally made some peace.
His coach was already paid for the first quarter of the year.
"So far, everything's okay," Obiena said, noting the steps made by new PATAFA president Terry Capistrano.
"It's a lot of different changes he has done, simplifies a lot of things. That's all I ask."
"So far I'm okay, things are much better."
Being free from this trouble left Obiena free to improve himself—and breaking the six-meter ceiling in the process. This also meant he reset his personal and national record.
Next up—qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics.