HEREFORDSHIRE based javelin thrower Daniel Pembroke is targetting his first Paralympic gold medal and a world record next month.

Pembroke broke the F-13 European record earlier this year throwing 66.75m.

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His competition in Tokyo takes place at 11am on Thursday, September 2.

The route to Tokyo has not been easy for the 29-year-old.

At the age of six, Pembroke was diagnosed to Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP).

The condition, affects around one in every 3,000 worldwide, is degenerative to sight as time progresses.

Pembroke first threw a javelin in school, visiting a club almost immediately afterwards and breaking the school record within two months of starting.

He then broke the UK’s age record for 14, 15, and 17 – with the latter leaving him the best in the world for his age.

In 2011 he threw 75.89m, which is still his able-bodied record to this day. The qualifying distance for the 2012 Olympics sat at 78m.

However, in the process, Pembroke snapped his medial collateral ligament when throwing, rendering him obsolete from competition.

“I had a surgery to fuse the ligaments back together – but it just didn’t feel right. With my eyesight getting worse, and my desire to travel, I quit athletics.

“My parents were keen fishermen, and I used to read their diaries of travels to India to catch a Marcia. It was what I’d wanted to do – just travel and experience the world.”

Throughout his teen years, he had been solely focused on his burning passion for athletics, and with his eyesight on borrowed time and his elbow not fully healed, Pembroke decided to travel the world.

“I decided to get a map out, close my eyes and put my finger on it – I just wanted to go somewhere. It landed somewhere in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, with the closest land mass being Sardinia.

“I travelled around, and I fell in love with the place. I would bounce back and forth between both here and Sardinia, eventually moving out and meeting my now fiancé, Martina.

“When I was out there, the local athletics club asked me if I could try to throw for their club in return for citizenship.

“I then got the record for Sardinia, 64 metres, and was put on national television! It was brilliant.”

Afterwards, Pembroke still felt pain in his elbow from his previous injury so did not make a full return to competition. He moved back to the UK with Martina, before heading to New Zealand, Australia and Southeast Asia for several years.

After some research, he discovered the blind college in Hereford online whilst in Tasmania to study massage therapy.

“There was a guy at the college who was really helpful – he got back to me and secured me a place, and luckily I got in on the last year they were doing the programme,” Pembroke added.

“I’d never been to Hereford in my life (I’m originally from Buckinghamshire) and moved to lower Bullingham.

“Once I had got settled, I thought my elbow was feeling fairly good, maybe I could start throwing again? And I did.”

After returning, he was informed he could qualify for a Para event once classified. In turn, he became nationally classified as an F-13 athlete, which is the most minor of the visually impaired categories.

Pembroke was set to go for an international competition just before the pandemic, however when the Paralympics were postponed, he had to wait for his first event for over 18 months.

During this time, however, he was able to train thanks to the GV Fitness Centre, who allowed him to train as it was his place of work.

His first event was the Para Grand Prix in Italy, before being selected to represent Great Britain in the European Championships in Poland this month.

“I won’t forget my first senior competition for GB,” added Pembroke.

“My first two throws were 55 and 59 metres - quite poor.

“My coach Dave Turner was watching the competition and relaying me some tips via Zoom, and he told me to relax.

“The next throw was 65m, which guaranteed me the victory. I then broke the European record on the final throw, which was 66.75m.”

Aged 29, Pembroke is an older thrower within the field – he set his improvement within the event down to relaxation and the technique he settled in to.

“What I’d struggled with mostly was seeing where the line was. I slowed my speed down before the line usually, but on the last throw I just went for it."

Pembroke is now looking to not only achieve gold but beat the world record of 71.01m.

It is a testament to the perseverance of Pembroke, who pursued his passions and made the right decisions at the right time, that he is in such a position.

He added: “You don’t often get second chances in athletics – especially at the later stage that I’m in. I said goodbye to it in 2013 definitively, but to be able to come back, to go to a Paralympic Games – it’s unbelievable.”