POLE VAULT STAR. An undated photo of the world's No. 2 pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena from his Instagram account. Obiena is among the 10 candidates in the Philippine Olympic Committee Athletes Commission election set on Jan. 27, 2024. (Photo from EJ IG account)
MANILA – World's No. 2 pole vaulter Ernest John "EJ" Obiena is among the 10 candidates in the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) Athletes Commission elections to be held on Jan. 27 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Malate, Manila.
Obiena competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and won the gold medal at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. He is based in Formia, Italy where he trains under renowned Ukrainian coach Vitaly Petrov.
The other candidates are Jessie Khing Lacuna (swimming), Nesthy Petecio (boxer), Jayson Valdez and Amparo Teresa Acuña (shooting), Jack Danielle Animam (basketball), Inna Kristianne Palacios (football), Kai Stroem (rugby), Juan Miguel Bautista (fencing) and John Leerams Chicano (triathlon).
Only five athletes will be elected to the Commission.
Lacuna is a two-time Olympian (2012 and 2016), while Petecio is a silver medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and a gold medal winner at the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games.
Valdez also saw action in the Tokyo Olympics. He and Acuña both bagged the bronze medal at the 2023 Asian Shooting Championships.
Animam, a five-time UAAP champion, is the first Filipina to compete in the European and China leagues.
Palacios is the team captain of the first national team that competed in the FIFA World Cup. Stroem is the co-captain of the Rugby 7s team, while Bautista is a bronze medalist in the Cambodia SEAG and a gold medal winner in the 2022 Thailand and Indonesia Fencing Championship.
Chicano is a three-time national champion and a double-gold medalist in the SEAG.
The Athletes’ Commission is a consultative and advisory body aimed at helping the POC achieve its mission by providing a critical link between the POC leaders and the athletes.
The current members of the POC Athletes Commission are Nikko Huelgas (triathlon), Hidilyn Diaz (weightlifting), Jake Letts (rugby), Francesca Altamonte (softball), Samuel Morrion (taekwondo), Petecio and Lacuna. (PNA)
