John Cabang says EJ Obiena inspired his Olympic debut
An overview shows (FromL) Spain’s Enrique Llopis, Japan’s Rachid Muratake, France’s Raphael Mohamed, Germany’s Manuel Mordi, Poland’s Jakub Szymanski, Brazil’s Eduardo Rodrigues, Philippines’ John Cabang and Chile’s Martin Saenz De Santa Maria competing in the men’s 110m hurdles heat of the athletics event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 4, 2024. (Photo by Antonin THUILLIER / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines—Filipino-Spanish hurdler John Cabang Tolentino didn’t need to look far for inspiration during his campaign at the Paris Olympics.
Tolentino said Filipino pole vault star EJ Obiena served as one of his inspirations to keep going and compete in the Olympics despite an injury.
“Inspiration,” said Tolentino, referring to Obiena during Team Philippines’ homecoming party at Newport World Resorts.
READ: Injury ends John Cabang’s campaign at Paris Olympics
“He’s an inspiration. A big one, for sure. We’ll keep supporting him and we’ll see how he’ll go little by little,” he added. “Sometimes, we put a lot of pressure [on him] and it’s not that good so [we should support him] little by little.”
Obiena said he dealt with back issues heading into the Paris Games, where he narrowly missed a spot on the podium after finishing in fourth place.
Obiena’s performance motivated Tolentino to do the same.
“The injury came two days before my first race. It kind of sucks but at least I’ve run one time and that’s good enough,” said Tolentino, who still went on to participate in the men’s 110m hurdles with a hurt adductor.
Tolentino failed to advance to the semifinal but was relegated to the repechage for another chance. The injury, however, was too much as it forced Tolentino to pull out from the race.
READ: John Cabang completes journey from walk-in to Olympics
“I got the exam and MRI plus an echo and it had a little cut in my (leg) muscle so I couldn’t run.”
The 22-year-old Tolentino is focused on his full recovery as he hopes to be back competing for the Philippines as quickly as possible.
“I’m not trying to rush because right now, I’m injured and I want to get healthy as soon as possible.”
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