'It was a relief': Pembroke defends World javelin crown in New Delhi

Dan Pembroke after winning gold at the Paralympics in Paris last summer. Photo credit: imagecomms

--

WSEH’s Dan Pembroke defended his Javelin title at the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi over the weekend but admitted it was a relief to him as he hadn’t thrown in weeks.

Pembroke’s practise time heading into the championships had been severely restricted due to injury, but he still managed to produce the best throw of the competition when it mattered most.

Pembroke (Trained by John Trower at Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow Athletics Club) admitted he felt hindered by injury ahead of the competition, however his final throw of the competition sailed out to 68.51m, and that saw him claim his third straight World title, to add to his two Paralympic titles.

He said: “It was a relief.

“I didn’t tell anyone, but I haven’t thrown a javelin for four and a half weeks.

“I was just trying to find my head out there – I’m ecstatic with the win, but I’m always looking to push my performance and the world record more and more.

“Without any injury, I’d be a bit disappointed – but I went out and smashed it, so it’s great.

“We’ll have to see what craft beers we’ve got in the hotel.”

While delighted to have overcome his injury limitations to take the title, Pembroke admitted the atmosphere inside the largely empty Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi had been strange. There had been free entry to the event. 

"It's a bit of an anti-climax when you come to the world championships and nobody knows it's going on," he added.

"Everything is running really well. All the logistics, you know, getting to the stadium, the competition and how it's being run is all really, really good, I couldn't really fault it at all.

"But the one thing that is noticeable is the lack of crowd here. I think potentially all the money was spent on making it run well and not notifying the local population."

Last summer Pembroke and other Paralympians had the support of 65,000 people in Paris, but on Saturday, he reckons he had a maximum of 500 people watching him compete.

"It's very, very different,” he said. “It's just a shame there isn't the crowds we had in Paris because that did spur me on. It appears able-bodied championships were shown on UK television and people knew about it but now the Para World Championships come around, and nobody knows it's going on.

"You can't say people don't want to watch it, look at Paris and the numbers of people that did view the Paralympic Games."