Woeful Road to Glory 

BY: KATHERINE JANELLE LUBIS  | June 11, 2023

Another instance of poor athlete treatment transpired in the 2023 Sea Games Pole Vault for 17 years old EJ Obiena. The venue hosts showcased poor coordination costing its athletes their well-being throughout the whole game. This is a pressing problem in wherein players have to cope up with poor conditions due to institutions’ incompetence.

Coordinators failed to do a rain check causing athletes like Obiena to push their limits and perform under the gruesome rain. An athlete’s health should never be taken likely as one wrong move could cost them their career. 

Additionally, although other teams pleaded for a postponement, the officials still couldn’t hear their woes. This caused Obiena to sit and wait 4 hours under the rain since officials couldn’t make up their mind only worsening his condition due to a past injury, he acquired last week.

 Even after all the drama, Obiena never ceased as the pole vault king, even breaking his own record. Even if his run was cut short due to fatigue, he showcased pure determination any young athlete would look up to.

All in all, to achieve glory, every athlete must first go through a woeful road. However, this shouldn’t be kept as the norm as institutions should do better.