Philippines' Ernest John Obiena competes in the men's pole vault final of the athletics event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 5, 2024. Antonin Thuillier, AFP

MANILA — EJ Obiena settled for a fourth-place finish in the men's pole vault event of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

READ: Heartbreak for Obiena as he misses pole vault podium

READ: How EJ Obiena conquered nerves in pole vault qualifying

After a heart-racing performance in the qualification round, the Filipino star just fell short of reaching the podium after he was not able to clear 5.95-m in the finals when there were only four of them left in the competition.

However, one factor that played into his performance was the back issue that the Chiang Kai-shek product was dealing with even before he went to France for his Olympic campaign. 

"What EJ went through 10 days into the games was quite a shock," said Obiena's advisor and friend Jim Lafferty in an online press conference earlier on Wednesday. 

"He has had a recurring issue in the lumbar part of his spine. He's had some issues in the connective issues which led to muscle spasming, pain, and the inability to vault," explained Lafferty.

"This started two years ago, and he's had a denervation to the nerve that was causing all the issues. It allows him to compete and go on without any risk to his long-term health," he revealed.

Obiena has already hinted at this in a previous social media post before the games, but Lafferty said that revealing it would have negatively affected the pole vaulter's preparations even more. 

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

READ: EJ Obiena ‘going in the right direction' ahead of Olympics stint

"Anything he says at that time goes right through his competition. Obviously, he doesn't want to disclose if you have a serious medical condition. To tell everything would be foolish because they are [competitors]," said Lafferty.

"The nerve does grow back, and unfortunately, it grew back at a rate where he's starting to feel everything again in 2024. This whole season has had great inconsistencies, [with EJ] having to take dates off and having to take medications," added the adviser, as he explained the intricacies of the back issue that affected Obiena.

The pole vaulter would not deny that the issue has had quite the impact on his training program.

"They cause spasms and inflammations, and this has been recurring this season. I was in the US when it started, I couldn't move right away after I jumped. Sometimes it relaxes, sometimes it does," Obiena said.

"We didn't know what is exactly causing it. Probably, if it was not the Olympics, I wouldn't do it, but it was the Olympics. You can feel it when you're walking. I can walk, I can jog a little bit, but when it's really bad, I can't really run. Vaulting was out of the picture," he continued.

And to ease the pain that Obiena was feeling, Lafferty revealed that the Filipino had to even book a quick trip to Italy.

"Twelve days before the Olympics, it got so bad that he was unable to vault. He couldn't even run with a pole so what we did was we searched for a doctor in France. The only thing we could do was pull out [from the Olympics] or have an injection of some type of cortisone to take out inflammation and the pain," he said.

"Nobody in France would take the situation because the doctors said: ‘We don't know him.' This is a procedure that's done in an operating room under a fluoroscopy so it could be guided into the direct spot that it needs to be guided to. For a doctor to do it, they need an MRI, an operating room, a fluoroscopy, and they need an anesthesiologist because he can't move during the procedure."

"It's not just a simple procedure for a shot. It's done in a very delicate area where they can't hit a nerve and they have to put it into the right position."

"What did we do? We put EJ on a plane to Italy. Over a 24-hour period, he left France, flew to Rome, met with doctors, had the procedure done, and then we put him back on a plane to France, and then had to take a 48-hour recovery from the shot. Only then did he start to gradually work his way back," he added.

Obiena said the events were painful for him, both physically and emotionally. 

"I'm going to be realistic. I didn't expect that it will happen this year. But in sports, you never know, things happen. Unfortunately, this year has been rough since right after indoors, even indoors," he said. 

"I don't think it hindered me to perform on the day of the Olympics. But if I'm analyzing it, it affected my consistency and my overall program for the Olympics."

"I can promise you guys that I did everything that I can with all the circumstances I've dealt with. I'm definitely proud of what I've achieved, but that doesn't really lessen the disappointment and pain of coming in fourth," continued Obiena, who finished at No.11 in the 2021 Tokyo Games.

"It's the reality of it, but I don't use that to say that's why the outcome was short of a medal. I still believe I was fully capable of winning that, and that's what makes it painful even more. I was that close," he added. 

Moving forward, the gold for Obiena is to take things slowly. And while he is set to compete in some competitions later this year, the focus is entirely on his long-term health.

EJ Obiena in an online press conference earlier today.

"My goal right now is to hopefully hold my world ranking. We'll see. I still don't know what to face after this. There's still a few competitions lined up for me this season," he said. 

"I'm not joining any small tournaments this year. I'm joining high-level competitions. It's been a very tough season for me. It definitely showed in the qualifiers and the finals," Obiena added.

As for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, Obiena emphasized that now is not the time to announce or make anything official about it. 

"The competitive side of me says that if LA is tomorrow, I'd be there. But we will see. It's not an easy decision to make. I need that time to process it and hopefully, fully be able to commit with all my gut and my being that I'm gonna be there, and represent the Philippines to the best of my ability," he said.

"But I don't wanna lie. I don't wanna say, we're gunning right away. If I don't truly feel that, if I don't truly comprehend the sacrifices I need to do, I don't wanna be in LA just to be in LA. If I'm gonna do that, I'm gonna go all out and win the thing."

"If I were to do that, I need to be able to look my parents in the eyes and tell them that  I'm probably not going to see them again for the next four years, at least. Maybe a month a year, at best. They need to understand it's going to be another four years, and I need to focus on everything and live this life." 

"To be able to say that I know I can? What comes with that, it's tough, it's a long process, and if I'm willing to do all the sacrifices again, and be able to live with my life, that's a long decision and long thinking I need to do. It really depends, we're still figuring it out. For now, I'm still processing a lot of it. I'm taking it one game at a time. We're not gonna do any risks for my health," he added.