Filipino pole vault star EJ Obiena is enjoying the best stretch of his career. Just recently, the world number two lived up to his reputation as he dominated the competition in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
The freshly minted gold medalist, however, isn’t immune to the online bashing that many of today’s top athletes deal with as well.
Last Friday, Obiena got attacked on a pole vault page on Facebook. But it didn't come from a random troll or an anonymous account. It came from someone closely linked to another world-class pole vaulter.
Anais Lavillenie, the wife of 2012 London Olympics gold medalist Renaud Lavillenie, accused Obiena of doping.
“Obiena doped and it’ll fail like Braz. Same Coach. Same Plan. Same Objective!” Lavillenie posted in the comment section after Vaulter Magazine reposted a report by The Manila Times about Obiena.
Her comment has since been filtered out but Obiena managed to obtain a screenshot.
The “Braz” Lavillenie was referring to was Thiago Braz da Silva, the 2016 Rio Olympics gold medalist who trained with Obiena under mentor Vitaly Petrov. Braz was slapped with a suspension last July after testing positive for a banned substance.
On Sunday night, Obiena took to Facebook to address the allegation.
“I want to remain classy and dignified on this subject. All I will say is I am disappointed, angry, and feel wronged by these statements. I will let the story evolve while my team explores the many angles, including legal. I guess this is part of the price you pay when you win,” Obiena wrote.
The doping accusation being thrown at Obiena remains baseless. As of now, it's unfounded gossip meant to discredit the Filipino pole vaulter’s achievements and continuous rise in the sport.
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The pride of Tondo, Manila is right in approaching the issue with extra caution, possibly to avoid giving the allegation more weight.
The hope now is that Obiena gets past this latest distraction so he can fully focus on getting the gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
(PM)