Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena in action in the 19th Asian Games. POC-PSC Media Pool.

EJ Obiena will start his 2024 Paris Olympic Games campaign later this week.

The Filipino pole vault star will step foot on the Games' stage on Saturday, August 3, as he looks to rise from his performance in the 2021 Tokyo Games.

READ: EJ Obiena ‘battling with physical problems' ahead of Olympic Games

Obiena previously shared that he is dealing with some issues ahead of the official start of his event, more specifically, "battling with physical problems."

He then gave an update before he entered the Philippines' training camp and concluded his preparations in the Normandy Sports Centre.

"I'm still alive, I'm still kicking," he told ABS-CBN News in a call.

"I think I'm in a better headspace. Physically, I hope it's better. I think it is going in the right direction and I'm currently in Normandy, so we're 15 from Paris. The plan is to go to Paris on the 31st," he continued.

Obiena then went on to tackle what was indicated in his previous post and explained that it has given him a lot of limitations in his preparations.

"It definitely hampered my training," said Obiena. "I  don't want to put it out there just yet. I mean, it's not life-threatening or anything, but it's just the athletes' life. It's just the timing of it. It's just very bad and with the preparations not being ideal. But like I said, we're doing everything that we can every day."

"I think it's going in the right direction. I mean, I can train. It's not like I can't train. I do train, but there's a lot of limitations to the things that I can do," he continued, while also adding how he didn't even previously want to announce it on social media.

"I don't really want to put it out there, because they'll know if I'm limited in certain ways. I don't really want to. It just hampers my training. But I think I'm okay." 

He also explained that his opponents may also be dealing with the physical toll of their respective preparations. 

"For sure, I'm definitely not the only one [injured]. I'm pretty sure there are also other people going through something similar. It's now all about getting to the starting line and making sure I'm able to compete. I think that is all that matters, and then make it to the finals. When you're in the final it's a derby out there and let's see."

"I just need my body to stay in one piece. That's all I need to get into the final. And after that, all the pain and all these problems can come back and I'll deal with it," he added.

Moving forward, Obiena said that despite his setbacks, he is opting to look through it in a positive manner.

READ: EJ Obiena primed to lead PH athletics in Olympic Games

"Like I said, I'm still in one piece so it could have been a lot worse. I guess I've also been very lucky this year," he said.

"I broke a pole and I really didn't get injured, so let's deal with it in a positive sense. Look at the brighter side, and keep believing. It's not like I'm just sitting around. I'm trying to adapt to the best of my abilities to be competitive. So that being said, I think it also speaks about how mentally I'm trying to prepare and not sitting around." 

"I'm still doing everything that I can to be in the best shape I can be. It's not optimal, but it's not like it's the end of the world. I believe so and I still believe in my chances."

With this, the Tondo native remains optimistic that he can finally win an Olympic medal. 

"They haven't diminished, but I'm being a little bit smarter than how I normally should," Obiena said. "I'm taking it with a little bit of a grain of salt, and let's just get through the qualifiers, and we get to the final."

Obiena vowed that he will be giving it his all despite the adversities that he has been going through.

"I'm doing everything that I can. As I said, it's not optimal, but the games have not started for me. Competition is on August 3rd, final on the 5th," he said.

"I'll take it one step at a time, and I still believe in myself. Yeah, let's go get this," he ended. 

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