EJ Obiena ‘100% healthy’ ahead of Diamond League, says mom Jeanette

MANILA — Filipino star EJ Obiena is in the full swing of his preparations for his next challenge, the Xiamen leg of the Diamond League.

The World’s No.4 pole vaulter will compete against the best of the best in the 15-leg tournament which opens on April 26, as Obiena will face familiar foes in world-record holder and 2024 Paris Olympic gold medalist Armand Duplantis, silver finisher Sam Kendricks, and bronze holder Emmanouil Karalis.

But unlike in the Summer Games wherein Obiena competed with a back injury, the 6-foot-2, Tondo native is now completely healthy according to his mother, Jeanette Obiena.

“He’s doing good, and 100% na siya for his training right now,” she said at the sidelines of Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum in Manila.

EJ, who placed fourth in Paris, missed the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in March. Since then, however, the two-time Olympian has been training here in the country — a first for the Vitaly Petrov-led camp — in Imus, Cavite.

“Nag adjust lang sila kasi nag-adapt siya nung training nila noong may injury siya,  pero right now, wala na siyang injury so all out na yung training niya,” said Jeanette of her son.

EJ previously started his outdoor season in a victorious manner by ruling the Taiwan International Pole Vault Championships in early April, but according to his mother, the goal is even higher this time around.