From saying goodbye to athletics in 2013 after snapping his medial collateral ligament in his elbow shortly before the 2012 Olympic Games Trials, to sealing the Paralympic title in 2021, Dan Pembroke’s story in the sport is a tale of perseverance.

After his success in Tokyo in early September, the Hereford-based athlete is reflecting on his success in Tokyo after a whirlwind year which saw him internationally classified in the F13 category – for athletes with a visual impairment – and being crowned the European and Paralympic champion.

Pembroke, who has a genetic and limiting eye condition called RP (Retinitis pigmentosa), decided to travel the world in 2013 as his eyesight deteriorated, and on his travels, his met his now fiancé, Martina, in Sardinia, and they travelled the world together before settling back in the UK in the last couple of years.

After some persuasion by Para Athletics Head Coach Paula Dunn, Dan was introduced to para athletics and after delays due to the covid-19 pandemic, he was finally classified in Italy earlier this year and it has been success after success ever since.

Heading into Tokyo, the 30-year-old had thrown a European record of 66.75m to seal the European title in Bydgoszcz at the start of June, so he went into the Tokyo final as the favourite, but he still had to bring his best on the day.

And that he did. The Paralympic and European record fell with his best of 69.52m as he joined the list of illustrious winners of Paralympic titles.

“What an immense occasion it was for me.

“I came into the sport so quickly. It’s been a big hurricane of events. I only got classified earlier in the year, and then I was at the Paralympics, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

“People can come out of the blue and deliver great performances and we saw that in my competition. (Hector) Cabrera, he was in second position after the second throw and then all of a sudden, the Iranian (Ali Pirouj) athlete came along and threw a nine metres personal best. It is incredible for my sport because the more people we get into para sport, is great right. So, to have such a high level of javelin throwing is good for the sport.”

After two weeks of hot and dry weather in Japan, on the night of Dan’s final, the rain lashed down in Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium, but after a decade of adapting to a new way of life, a bit of wet weather was water off the duck’s back.

“I had 8/9 years out of the event, so coming back into it, everything felt new to me. I guess I’ve just learned to adapt very quickly. Travelling around the world has helped me to adapt, getting used to my eye condition has made me have to adapt on the spot, so it comes second nature now. So, it didn’t faze me mentally, it only impacted me physically, such as the grip on the javelin, but you can’t do much about that.”

Not only did he have to adapt to the competition environment, but the whole Games experience brings its own unique challenges and obstacles.

“The whole experience was new. I don’t think you can ever truly get used to it. Maybe someone like Dan Greaves can, he’s been throwing at so many Paralympics (six). It was great to have people like him on the team who you could source experience from.

“For example, you have the food hall in the village, you have every food imaginable available to you, and it’s all free. So, there is a massive temptation there to pig out, but you can’t do that as you are there for a purpose, so you have to control yourself in every aspect. You’ve got to manage your mental health, make sure you are speaking to family and friends back home, and also making new friends while you are there.”

One of those was his roommate, Jonathan Broom-Edwards who also won gold, in the T64 High Jump. Dan believes their bond was a factor in their success in Japan.

“I was competing on the Thursday evening, so I won my gold, and everything was full of emotion. I knew that Broom was competing on the Friday morning, so I knew he had to wake up early, so I wished him luck before my competition started, ‘look mate, go out there and absolutely smash it’. We quoted the Gladiators film – “now, we unleash hell”. And we sure did!

“I arrived back to the apartment in the village, and I stayed in another room to make sure I didn’t wake him up. He left early in the morning, but I went to watch him at the stadium later that morning and it was so good. When I saw him win, it was just fantastic. We could then celebrate together, so he went through the media and everything which takes some time but later in the day I burst into the room when he was on FaceTime to some of his friends and I literally screamed “Broom’s done it”, literally jumping up in the air. It was crazy. It’s great to share that with someone.”

Appearances on The Last Leg, 5Live and Channel 4 were just a few of the opportunities afforded to Dan in the hours after his maiden Paralympic gold. It is all part of the golden moments of the Games, but he was quick to thank the Japanese people for their support during the Games which added to those moments which will stay with him.

“The Japanese people and all the volunteers were incredible. Even though we didn’t have a crowd, we had all these people coming to support us. They kept us motivated, helped us to train. In Kawasaki (the holding camp), every day that we went to train, there were people outside the venue just cheering us on, making us little origami figurines. It was just amazing to be a part of it.”

With a World Para Athletics Championships on the horizon in 2022, and another Paralympics in Paris in 2024, Dan is already targeting a successful few years ahead in the sport.

“Absolutely! I’m 30 which isn’t young, but I think I’ve got the experience from the sport to know what my body needs and how to train wisely without injuring myself. With my team, Dave Turner (coach), Lachlan Bromley (physio) and Sam Heathcote (Strength and Conditioning), hopefully we can get a strategy where I’m not injured, I’m really fast and technically great which will leave me in good stead heading into the World Championships in Japan next year, and beyond.”