Junior vaulter Obiena gets higher level of training
From Ernest John Obiena's Facebook page . Filipino junior pole vault champion Ernest John Obiena is currently honing his skills in Italy under the supervision of veteran coach Vitaly Opanasovich Petrov of Ukraine, who helped train three world champions including multiple world record holder Sergey Bubka. The 18-year-old Obiena left with his father, coach, and former Philippine pole vault champion Emerson last week to train with Petrov, 76, at the International Association of Athletics Federation’s (IAAF) World Pole Vault Center in Formia in Italy. The Ateneo sophomore earned the chance to train under Petrov through Bubka after the six-time world champion and IAAF vice president promised to help him if he clears the five-meter mark in any competition. Obiena, who finished fourth in the 2013 Myanmar Southeast Asian Games, achieved the feat during the 21st Taiwan Nantou Indoor International Pole Vault Championship in Nantou, Chinese Taipei last month where he broke t...