EJ Obiena to miss World Indoor Championships, shifts focus to outdoor season

Filipino Olympian and pole vaulter EJ Obiena will shift his focus to the outdoor season as he will 'inevitably' miss the World Athletics Indoor Championship due to lack of competitions.

Obiena announced the development on Tuesday.

"Even though there is still time to qualify for the World Indoor Championships, there are no more competitions left for me to participate," Obiena said in his post.

"The last competition was on the 16th of February in Torun, Poland and the next one that I got is Mondo Classic on the 13th of March, which is already outside the qualification period. I can promise you all that my team and I have scoured the calendar for possible competitions but NO LUCK. With this I would inevitably miss the championships."

Obiena is coming off a tough 2024 where he sustained his back injury and narrowly missed the podium in the Paris Olympics.

While he will miss the Indoor Championships, Obiena said he will start preparing for the outdoor season.

"I will hence priori[ti]ze and prepare for the upcoming outdoor competition. This is when I would represent the country in the World Championships, Asian Championships and SEA Games. The key is to go into the outdoor season healthy and ready to compete at the highest level. It is also important to defend what I have already achieved in these championships," he said.

Obiena will defend his title in the Asian Athletics Championships which will be held in May in South Korea. The World Championships, meanwhile, will be held in September. Two years ago, Obiena claimed silver from the said event.

The Southeast Asian Games, meanwhile, is slated for December. Obiena already has three golds from the said regional meet.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News