Pole vaulter EJ Obiena is committed to promoting his sport in the Philippines.
To achieve this, he believes it is crucial to make the sport more accessible to Filipinos, particularly in the provinces.
“My goal is basically to make it conducive for kids to try it. I wanna take the opportunity that kids that want to do pole vault have the place to do it. With that, you create a bigger pool of talents. With that, you have more medalists and more possible champions,” said the two-time Olympian during his meet-and-greet with fans on Sunday.
The event served as a jumping point for a fund-raiser, one that will help construct pole vault pits around the country.
“We’ll be able to donate pits all over the Philippines. Equity-wise, I want to do it in corners or places where there’s really not a lot of facilities,” said the world’s No. 3 pole vaulter.
Obiena came close to winning a medal in the recent Paaris Olympics, finishing fourth.
He hopes his success will help encourage others to try out the sport.
“Right now I’m just an individual, so my reach and my resources are very limited. This is why I’m very thankful for the opportunity I had today,” said Obiena.
The post Obiena aims to make pole vaulting ‘accessible to all’ first appeared on Fastbreak.
0 comments: