Obiena bares injury in loss at Paris 2024 Games | Part 1/4 - video Dailymotion

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Obiena bares injury in loss at Paris 2024 Games | Part 1/4   A recurring nerve injury on his back hampers EJ Obiena's preparation for the Paris Olympics men's pole vault competition where the Filipino ace missed the podium with a fourth place finish. Obiena himself confirmed the injury  in an online press conference on Aug. 7, 2024.   Zoom Presscon of EJ Obiena   Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital    Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein    #TheManilaTimes  #tmtnews  #sports  #ejobiena  #paris2024

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00:00You know, he put a post out about 12 days before the Olympic Games, a bit of a cryptic post he put

00:06on his Facebook and Instagram, where he alluded to some struggles and some health challenges

00:13and that he would do his very best. Now, that was kept vague on purpose because anything he says

00:20at that time goes right to his competition. And obviously, he doesn't want to disclose if he has

00:26a significant medical issue. This is not something you want to disclose. You can either withdraw,

00:32which EJ was never going to do, or you can basically stay vague. But to tell everything

00:38would be foolish because it plays into the hands. All of these pole vaulters are friends. They all

00:44know each other. But when they get onto the arena, they're all lions and they're all fighting.

00:48Okay, so we kept it vague. EJ's a bit too humble to really say anything. But, you know,

00:56it's been a frustration of mine. We've seen through these Olympics, which is not uncommon,

01:00a number of athletes pull up and pull out and have various injuries of certain sorts. But

01:06what EJ went through in the 10 days leading up to the Olympic Games is quite a shock.

01:12He has had a reoccurring issue in the lumbar part of his spine, where he's had

01:17some issues in the connective tissue, muscle spasming, pain, and the inability to vault.

01:23Now, two years ago, this started, and he had a procedure done, which

01:28is called a denervation, where they basically deaden the nerve that is causing all the issues,

01:34and it allows him to compete and go on without any risk to his long-term health.

01:39Now, that denervation that was done in 2022, the nerve does grow back. And unfortunately,

01:47it grew back at a rate where he started to feel everything again here in 2024. So,

01:52this whole season has been great inconsistency in having to take days off and having to take

01:59medications. Now, 10 days before, 12 days before the Olympic Games, it got so bad that he was

02:07unable to vault, and he couldn't even run with the pole. And so, what we did is we searched for

02:14a doctor, basically a neurosurgeon in France who would administer. The only thing we could do was

02:20either pull out or have an injection of a cortisone derivative, some type of cortisone

02:26to take out the inflammation, deaden a bit the pain so that he could go into competition,

02:32and even that's far from perfect. Nobody in France would take this situation because the

02:37doctors all said, we don't know him. And this is a procedure that's done in an operating room

02:43under a fluoroscope so the needle can be guided into the direct spot that needs to be guided. So,

02:49for a doctor to agree to do it, they need an MRI, they need an operating room,

02:54they need a fluoroscope, and they need an anesthesiologist because he can't move

02:59during the procedure. So, there is anesthesia that's administered. So, it's not a simple

03:04procedure, just a shot. It's done in a very delicate area where they can't hit the nerve

03:09and they have to put it in the right position. So, 10 days before the Olympic Games, he's not

03:14even vaulting, and we have no opportunity to vault. So, what did we do? None of you know this.

03:20This is known by a few people. We put EJ on a plane to Italy in over a 24-hour period. He left

03:28France, left the training camp in Normandy, flew to Rome, met with the doctors, had the procedure

03:35done, and then we put him back on a plane, brought him back to France. He then had to take a 48-hour

03:40recovery period from the shot, and then only then did he start to gradually work his way back.

03:46The fact that he competed, in my opinion, is amazing. The fact that he came in fourth

03:53is beyond amazing. I mean, he couldn't even carry his pole, and we've looked at it, and EJ can

03:58share more. He only got one workout session in with the pole before the Olympic Games.

04:03And now, when you look what happened in the Olympics, and certainly in the Olympic final,

04:07I was there. He cleared the height of 595 on all of his attempts. What he did was he came down a bit

04:15too close to the pole, and he knocked the bar off on the way down. This is a small adjustment that,

04:22if he had had the adequate practice time, these are the small nuances that would have been worked

04:27out. I mean, he was still adjusting to the pole, adjusting to the pit, adjusting to that situation.

04:33I can't even state how proud I am of this guy, and proud to know him, proud to work with him,

04:40proud to be a part of his team. The toughness and the unwillingness to make excuses,

04:47I mean, I think everybody should be so proud of him, and that's the real story. I don't think

04:51anybody else in the Paris Olympics was flown out of Paris in the middle of the night to a doctor

04:57in another country, and then flown back. That's what he went through behind the scenes. He never

05:04wanted to really tell anyone about that, but I think that you should know the real story

05:09of what he went through, and how amazing that fourth place is. So, that's really all I have

05:15to say. I know EJ's probably upset with me for sharing this, but I believe that people should

05:23know, and what he went through to do his very best, and what he ended up with is just downright

05:28shocking, and amazing, and deserves our respect and our applause. Thank you for listening to my

05:36rant there for a minute, and I will turn it over to EJ himself. Thank you. Yeah, I mean,

05:43you know, if I'm going to be realistic, it's probably a year, I didn't expect this to happen,

05:52this year. But, you know, sports, you never know, we push ourselves, we push our body to the limits,

05:59and things happen. And fortunately, this year, it's definitely been rough, I would say,

06:09since right after indoors, even indoors, it's like, just things after things, and things after

06:16things. It's, yeah, it's the reality of it, but I don't use that to say, okay, that's why the

06:26outcome was short of a medal. I believe I'm still fully capable of doing it. I still believe I'm

06:32fully capable of winning that. And that's what makes it painful even more, is that I was that

06:39close. All things considered, I was that close. And yeah,

Obiena bares injury in loss at Paris 2024 Games | Part 1/4

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