TOKYO - The morning after his campaign in the men's pole vault finals at the Tokyo Olympics, there was still a lot of discussion on what happened before his third and final attempt to clear the bar at 5.80 meters on Tuesday evening.
Needing to clear the height to keep his medal bid going, Obiena, 25, aborted his first run at the last moment, after which he had a brief discussion with officials, and did so again in his second attempt as the scoreboard flashed an 'X' beside his name, meaning his attempt was considered foul and therefore a failed attempt.
What followed was a discussion with officials that saw Obiena vigorously plead his case before he was given another shot at clearing the height.
He went on to narrowly miss that attempt, too, but hours later there was still speculation and discussion on what really transpired.
What was the furor all about? What is about a moving bar? Or was about the timer?
On Wednesday morning, Obiena admitted the discussion was over the timer and not about the bar, saying it specifically involved a 'gray area' in the rules.
The Tondo-born pole vaulter added the officials were 'kind enough' to give him another run at it after the discussion. He declined to reveal more, saying a press conference was being arranged for later in the day.
Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president Popoy Juico gave a more detailed account. He confirmed the dispute was about the timing device that shows how much time a pole vaulter has left to complete the jump.
That timer showed a 'discrepancy' which Obiena noticed before each of the two jumps, Juico said.
Juico explained: "He pointed out the discrepancy in the timing device which indicate that when he started to run toward the cross bar, there were 56 left before the deadline for vaulting ftom the start of his run up but when he glanced back at the pit area after he aborted his third attempt, the clock said 15 seconds."
"EJ couldn't believe that it took him about 41 seconds to finish his performance. The few seconds left didn't allow him enough time to start again if he's granted a fourth leap as a result of a successful protest. That's how I understod it," he added.
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