“Losing is not failure.”
Pole vaulter EJ Obiena has something to say about the criticisms being hurled at fellow Filipino sports sensation Alex Eala over her recent performance on the professional circuit.
The Olympian on Monday, October 19, came at the tennister’s defense amid criticisms following her early exits at tournaments like the Wuhan Open and Singapore Open.
Alex also crashed out at the semifinals of the Asian Games 2026, despite being the tournament’s top seed.
EJ took to Instagram to share her thoughts after criticism of her performance, reminding the public that they are also human and have “good days and bad days.”
“One competition can seem to define years of sacrifice. But a result can never tell the whole story,” he wrote.
“Our performance strongly defines us as athletes. The day of competition, unfairly, validates the thousands of hours we have spent training and pushing,” the pole vaulter said.
“In the 100 [meters], just a mere 10 seconds, more or less, can define a year’s worth of training or even a lifetime of hard work. It’s a brutally tough business, and the chances of failure are far larger than those of success. Imagine your professional life being defined by one meeting; one project; one day of work? That is sports, with its curves and edges,” he added.
EJ then said that an athlete’s chance of a “bad competition” is “guaranteed at some point,” adding that some sport legends “lose more than they win” in their career.
The athlete then cited tennis player Novak Djokovic as an example, considered among the “greatest” tennisters yet has “lost more than he won” in his matches.
“EVEN THE GREATS LOSE. A bad competition, a losing streak, even a difficult season: sooner or later every athlete faces them. Perfection can be the objective, but nobody wins everything,” he said.
“We may be treated as ‘Gods’ of some sort. But we are not. We are human. And like all humans, we have good days and bad days. Everyone reading this is the same. You have a good day. And sometimes you have bad days where everything goes wrong,” the athlete added.
EJ stressed that athletes are not Gods and that “one result cannot define a person.”
“Failure is not synonymous with losing,” he added. “Not all steps are medals and records; some are disastrous competitions, a string of losses, or even a bad season.”
“LOSING IS NOT FAILURE. As Giannis asked, ‘Do you get promoted every year?’ No. That does not make every year of hard work a failure. Progress has difficult steps, too,” the pole vaulter said, referring to NBA player Giannis Antetokounmpo.
EJ then addressed the issue related to Alex, saying “there is no such thing as failure in attempting.”
“So asking if Alex’s string of losses suggests she has failed is the wrong question (or for any national athlete for that matter, yours truly included),” he said.
“There is no such thing as failure in attempting, and in sports, there are good days and bad days, and some days you win and some days you lose, which is what gives sport its beauty and toughness,” the athlete added.
EJ then suggested how Filipinos can support them if they happen to face setbacks in their fields.
“SUPPORT MATTERS. If you want to help Alex, me, or any athlete, pick us up when we are down. Harsh comments are not the support that helps us return stronger,” he said.
“Just like maybe our boss gives us a pat on the back during a ‘loss’, even the toughest athlete has tough stretches and needs a pat on the back. Pulling out knives on social media, I can tell you, won’t help,” the pole vaulter added.
“If you want to help Alex, me, or any of our athletes, pick them up when they are down. Kicking someone when they are having a bad day is poor recipe for getting the desired result you seek. Just ask yourself, ‘How do I want to be supported when I have a bad day?’ And act accordingly. That’s the classy thing to do,” EJ said.
He also appealed for support to the Filipinos vying in the Asian Para Games in Nagoya, Japan this week.
EJ comes off a triumphant defense of his crown at the 20th Asian Games, marked by a new continental record.