Emong goes for jugular in Tokyo

It’s five years since David Emong first Paralympic medal, silver in the 1500m T46 race at the Estádio Olímpico João Havelange in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Algeria’s Samir Nouioua took the Gold. In 2017, Emong and Nouioua reversed their positions at the World Para-Athletics Championship.

Saturday at 4.28am will serve Emong-Nouioua III in the final at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. For someone with so many long term goals, the 30-year-old including starting an athletics academy, this matters more.

Between Rio and London, Emong improved his Personal Best (PB) time from 4 minutes and 00.62 seconds to 3 minutes and 58.47 seconds. Another upgrade will mean even more history.

“Winning an Olympic gold medal would mean so much. But, the important thing is to run a good race,” a calm and humble Emong said. “The weather is not great but we are all running in the same conditions.”

Tokyo is hot and humid. Every athlete has cited it as a hindrance. When the gunshot rasps through the air at the start, the pursuit of excellence will take over. Everything will be forgotten, temporarily. 

Favourite
Nouioua, 36, a legend to all involved with track athletics, is an eight-time Paralympic medallist and also has bagged seven medals at the worlds. That should make him a pre-race favourite.  The one major challenge for people like Emong, who broke his left arm in 2005 when he was assaulted at school, is the lack of regular international competitions.

He last raced in March in Tunisia and before that, another 365 days prior in Morocco. So, he must find something extra after months of camping in Kapchorwa with world and Olympic champion Joshua Cheptegei.
With Namboole stadium being turned into a treatment facility for Covid-19 patients, Olympians and Paralympians have had one common complaint – lack of an international facility.  

“Of course, we all want to race more. Without competing, you just have to use your experience from previous races and do what you can,” Emong adds.

Awards
The 2017 Nile Special-Uganda Sports Press Association (Uspa) sports personality and male athlete of the year is a gold standard for all Ugandan Paralympians.

“When you see people like him (Emong), you know you can also make it. They didn’t start where they are. They started like us,” sprinter Peace Oroma notes.

Being here in a team of four feels different for Emong. He was a lone ranger in Rio 2106. “Now, we have company,” he says in a sentence filled with laughter. “I wish we were all doing one race so we run as a team.”

There is nothing like that. Fittingly, Emong was flag bearer for Uganda at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Games, and performed the same task here along with para-swimmer Husnah Kukundakwe on Tuesday.

On that same track where he did the walk, Emong will also spare some attention for Bulgarian Hristiyan Stoyanov, 23, a bronze medallist from London and Burundi’s Remy Nikobimeze.  

At a glance 

Full Name: David Emong
Date of Birth: Sept. 10, 1990
Age: 30 Gender: Male
Sport Class: T46
Birthplace; Amolatar District
Education: Industrial Design - Ndejje University, Kampala
Club name: Prisons
Coach: Jameson Ssenkungu
Start: 2005
Ambition: To win gold at the 2020 Paralympic Games
Biggest moment: Winning a gold medal in the 1500m T46 at the 2017 World Championships
Hero: Moses Kipsiro