Earlier in his athletics career, Pembroke was targeting the London 2012 Olympics before an elbow injury put paid to that dream.
After a seven-year break and with his eyesight deteriorating, he came to Para-sport in 2019. Within two years he was Paralympic champion, throwing a Paralympic record of 69.52m in Tokyo.
In Paris he reached new heights, breaking Uzbekistan’s Aleksandr Svechnikov’s seven-year world record with his third throw, before bettering that mark by more than three metres on his next effort with 74.49m to successfully defend his Paralympic crown.
A year on from that golden achievement, Pembroke’s next task is defending the global title he won in both 2023 and 2024 at the Para-athletics World Championships in New Delhi, which get under way on Saturday.
As part of a 37-strong British contingent, external headed for India, he goes into the championships with “my hunger back”, having struggled with the comedown from his Paralympic high.
“Paris was the pinnacle of my career so far,” he said. “It’s weird to adjust coming back down the other side, because you need to reset your goals and your ambitions of where you want to go in the future.
“Those four months after Paris were very odd and strange for me. I was having ups and downs, but a big roller coaster of emotions, trying to adjust to what I’d done and where I’m going next.
“It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, it was pretty difficult.”
Sunshine is now on the horizon, however – Pembroke and his wife, Martina, will welcome their first baby in November.
The prospect of having his child trackside at the LA Paralympics in three years’ time is providing added motivation for Pembroke to continue his work both in and out of athletics.
“I’m not getting any younger, and I want to make the most of how my body’s feeling at the moment,” he said.
“I think I have the potential to break the [world] record and go more than 75m. Leading up to LA, that’s what I wanted to achieve.
“But when I do finally retire, and I’m not sure when that is yet, I want to have a wholesome feeling that I’ve done something good, not just from throwing javelins far, but I want to try and change the space in society that deals with visual impairment.”
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