olympics

As Coronavirus Threatens the 2020 Olympics, Filipino Athletes Keep Their Dreams Alive

Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena, who continues to train in Italy amid a country-wide lockdown, still has his eyes on the prize.
ej-obiena-olympics-tokyo-coronavirus
(L) Pole vaulter EJ Obiena. Photo courtesy of EJ Obiena. (R) Olympic Games symbol. Photo by Kyle Dias on Unsplash

The upcoming Tokyo Olympics is many things to Filipino athletes.

For weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, it’s about unfinished business. For gymnast Carlos Yulo, it’s about setting more records after winning big last year. But for pole vaulter EJ Obiena, it’s the culmination of a lifelong dream.

Obiena, the first Filipino to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, previously described the journey as going through hell and back, but something he is willing to do again if it means competing in the world’s biggest sporting event.

Advertisement

Moments after easily clearing the bar on one of his attempts at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games held in the Philippines, the 24-year old pulled out a piece of paper and held it aloft for everyone to see.

VINDICATION, it said.

After settling for a silver medal in 2015 and missing the 2017 SEA Games due to an ACL injury that sidelined him for six months, Obiena had finally done enough to snag a gold medal in the men’s pole vault event. To do it in front of thousands of Filipinos only made it sweeter.

It was a fitting end for a banner year. Obiena previously won golds in the Universiade and Asian Athletic Championships. But no medal was more important than what he achieved in September, when he recorded a jump of 5.81 metres in an athletics meet in Chiara, Italy, to punch his ticket to the Olympics. Two years after suffering a devastating injury that made him question his future in the sport, he was ready to compete against the world’s best athletes.

Now, three months later, something threatens to derail his story of vindication and the fulfilment of his dream. An unseen foe beyond his control. No amount of training could have prepared him for it.

The novel coronavirus and the illness it causes, COVID-19, has rapidly spread across the globe, infecting over 190,000 people and resulting in over 7,000 deaths as of this writing. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified the disease as a pandemic, and almost every major sports organisation — from the NBA in the United States, to the Premier League in the United Kingdom — has either postponed or suspended their games.

Advertisement

Every organisation, it seems, except the Olympics.

Japan, the host of the 2020 Olympics, has so far recorded 882 coronavirus infections and 29 deaths. But Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that the country is still preparing for the Summer Games, while the International Olympic Committee insisted that the quadrennial meet will go on as scheduled from July 24 until August 9.

For Olympic-bound athletes like Obiena, this means blocking out the ever-increasing noise and continuing their preparation for the most important athletic event of their lives. He was scheduled to participate in more tournaments before the games, but told VICE that it’s now “hard to plan ahead with everything up in the air.”

Obiena is currently training in Formia, Italy, a city 117km south of Rome, where he, along with other Tokyo-bound athletes, are not allowed to go out. Their preparations are occasionally interrupted when they are tested for the virus or when the training facility is sanitised. He was in the country when Italian Prime Minister Giueseppe Conte declared a nationwide lockdown in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

“There are so many things going on right now that I just try to focus on my craft,” Obiena said. “It’s a bit difficult to focus with all the things going on, but it’s the best thing to do.”

Advertisement

It’s the same enemy that now threatens weightlifter Diaz’s fourth Olympic stint. After becoming the first Filipino woman to win an Olympic medal during the 2016 Rio Olympics, she is determined to break another glass ceiling: becoming the first Filipino to take home a gold medal. But to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, she needs to compete in one more qualification competition.

These tournaments, however, are now either postponed or cancelled. The Asian Weightlifting Championships in Uzbekistan, the European Weightlifting Championships in Moscow, and the African Weightlifting Championships in Mauritius have been called off. One qualifying tournament that hasn’t been postponed is the Ibero American Open in Cali, Colombia. The country, however, has decided to temporarily ban visitors coming from Europe and Asia.

Diaz, who is currently in Malaysia, revealed her predicament in an Instagram post, saying, “Most of my Olympic qualification events are postponed or cancelled, travel ban, city lockdown or country lockdown. Panic, fears, and frustration is controlling us right now.”

Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas (Weightlifting Association of the Philippines) President Monico Puentevella said in a statement that they are appealing to the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) to trim the number of qualifying events required to compete at the Olympics. But until a decision is made, the future of one of the country’s best chances at winning gold is up in the air.

Advertisement

In Tokyo, gymnast Yulo remains prepared for the Olympics. After nabbing the gold in the men’s floor exercise event at the World Artistics Gymnastics Championships last October, the 20-year-old continues to be a force to be reckoned, winning seven medals at the 2019 SEA Games.

And while he is assured of competing in the Summer Games, a postponement would put his Olympic dreams — as well as those of thousands of other athletes — on hold.

Despite the uncertainty, Philippine sports officials expect around 18 Filipino athletes to qualify for the Games. Obiena remains optimistic that he can win the gold.

“My chances will not change if the Olympics push through this year,” he said.

He has battled injuries, vast distances away from family, and the burden of expectations from a country that is yet to win an Olympic gold.

In the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, where the opening ceremony for the Summer Games will be held, the cauldron, lit to symbolise the start of competition, remains untouched. But somewhere in Italy, Malaysia, Japan, and in training facilities all over the Philippines, the fires of Filipino athletes' Olympic dreams continue to burn.

Find Immanuel on Twitter.