Emong eyes World Record

Man Of Ambitions. After taking on the world and triumphing, Emong wants to go a notch further by setting a new World Record. Photo by Ismail Kezaala

What you need to know:

  • ATHLETICS. The Ugandan won gold, the country’s first-ever medal at the World Para Athletics, on his second appearance at the event that takes place once every two years.
  • He ran a personal best of 3:58.36 minutes.

KAMPALA. World Para Athletics Champion David Emong is a very ambitious man.
Upon returning from London Thursday afternoon, he said the gold medal he won at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championship is just the beginning- he wants many more.
Hardly a day into Kampala, he attached strings to his golden ambitions. “I want to win more gold medals, but mostly I want to be the World Record (WR) holder,” Emong said during a welcoming press conference organised by the National Council of Sports (NCS) at Hotel Africana on Friday morning.

Are the gifts, media attention he is receiving, lately, the fuel behind his huge ambitions? NCS gave Emong a Shs5m prize and they are planning to build him a home near Kampala. 
On Thursday, he received an undisclosed cash gift from the First Lady Janet Museveni, pending a bigger ‘Presidential dinner’.
“When I won silver at Paralympics last year, I promised that I would win gold for my country, and I did it. Now with enough support, I can break the world record.”

How feasible is his pursuit?
Emong won gold, Uganda’s first-ever medal at the World Para Athletics, on his second appearance at the event that takes place once every two years. He ran a personal best of 3:58.36 minutes to win the 1,500m T46, beating multiple world champion Samir Nouioua of Algeria, who finished second on 3:58:78 minutes.
Australia’s Michael Roeger set the current World Record, a fantastic 3:48.55 minutes in Boston in June 2015. He broke the previous mark of 3:50.15 which Kenyan Abraham Tarbei had set at London 2012 Paralympics. Emong, on his Paralympic debut, finished fourth (3.58.47 minutes), in that race.

Smashing a World Record is very unpredictable. One year after Roeger’s record in Boston, he finished third on 4:01.34 minutes, behind Emong (4:00:62 minutes) at the Rio 2016 Paralympics as Algerian Nouioua won gold.
Meanwhile, Nouioua, Emong’s arch-rival, has won three Paralympic gold medals since Athens 2004 and five from the World Championship, but has never clinched a World Record.

ABOUT EMONG
David Emong (born 1990) is a Ugandan disabled athlete who competes in sprint and medium distance running. He won Uganda’s first Paralympic medal at the 2016 Paralympic Games, gaining a silver medal in the Men’s 1500 metres T46. Last week, Emong won Uganda’s only medal at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in London and returned home on Thursday to a red-carpet hero’s welcome. Emong landed gold in the 1,500ms to help Uganda 32nd on the medal table. Ninety two countries took part at the championships.