Tom Dradiga
File:Athlete de l'Uganda au Championnats d'Afrique d'athlétisme 2024 à douala 02.jpg | |
Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | File:Flag of Uganda.svg Uganda |
Born | 17 June 1996 (28 years, 207 days old)[1] |
Home town | West Nile sub-region, Uganda[2] |
Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in)[1] |
Weight | 67 kg (148 lb)[1] |
Sport | |
Sport | Athletics |
Event | 800 metres |
Club | Uganda Wildlife Authority[2] Club Atletismo Unión Guadalajara |
Coached by | Edwin Kinalya Mario Peinado Jesús Peinado |
Achievements and titles | |
National finals |
|
Personal best | 800m: 1:44.74 (2023) |
Medal record | |
Updated on 15 January 2024 |
Tom Dradiga (born 17 June 1996), also spelled Tom Dradriga, is a Ugandan middle-distance runner specializing in the 800 metres. He is a two-time Ugandan national champion in the event and has a best of 1:44.74.[3]
Career
Dradiga began his career domestically, achieving a 1:52 800 m personal best after a series of Uganda Athletics Federation trial races in 2018.[1] His first breakthrough came in August 2019, when he improved his personal best from 1:48.50 to 1:46.84 in finishing second at the TBAC Meeting, behind Abu Salim Mayanja.[1] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic cancelling major athletics meetings in 2020 and 2021, Dradiga's next personal best did not come until March 2022, running 1:46.58 to win the inaugural National Trials meeting in Kampala.[4] On 25 March 2022, Dradiga won the Djibouti Meeting International, which served as the Djiboutian Athletics Championships for that year but also allowed foreigners to compete.[2] Dradiga's season best qualified him for the 2022 African Championships in Athletics, where he advanced beyond the quarter-finals on time but finished sixth in his semi-final, failing to advance to the finals.[1] After winning the Ugandan championships, Dradiga represented Uganda at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where he finished 5th in his 800 m heat and again did not advance to the finals.[1] In 2023, Dradiga won the Meeting Desafio Nerja Restaurante Pulguilla Y Ayo in a personal best of 1:46.52.[5] One month later, Dradiga made the biggest improvement of his career to finish 2nd at the Memorial José Antonio Cansino in Castellón. His time of 1:44.80 was an improvement of almost two seconds, qualifying him for the 2023 World Athletics Championships.[6] He improved that personal best by another 0.06 seconds at the Meeting de Madrid one month before flying to Budapest for his World Championships round.[7] In his heat, Dradiga finished 7th in 1:48.60 and did not advance to the semi-finals.[8]
Personal life
Dradiga is from the West Nile sub-region of Uganda. Until 2022, he trained under the Uganda Wildlife Authority Athletics club, with a group of sprinters coached by Edwin Kinalya.[9] In 2023, Dradiga moved to Spain and became a member of the Club Atletismo Unión Guadalajara, coached by Mario Peinado and Jesús Peinado. He trains with fellow Ugandan Dismas Yeko, who also competes for the club.[7]
Statistics
Best performances
Event | Mark | Pl. | Competition | Venue | Date | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
800 metres | 1:44.74 | 4th | Meeting Madrid | Madrid, Spain | 22 July 2023 | [1] |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Tom Dradiga at Tilastopaja (registration required)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Dradiga outruns Bekele, Idow to clinch gold in Djibouti Championships". New Vision. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- ↑ "Stockholm 2023 Full Media Information Sheets" (PDF). Diamond League.
- ↑ "Athletics recap for meeting #303541". Tilastopaja.
- ↑ "Brits in winning form in Germany and USA – overseas results round-up". AW. 23 May 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- ↑ "Mariano García reta a Adrián Ben en el duelo de campeones de Europa en Madrid". MARCA (in español). 3 July 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Club Atletismo Unión Guadalajara". www.caug.es. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- ↑ Sands, Rich. "World Champs Men's 800 — Arop's Patience Rewarded". Track & Field News. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
- ↑ "Ugandan sprinters set for Djibouti Athletics Championships today". New Vision. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
External links
- Living people
- 1996 births
- 21st-century Ugandan people
- Ugandan male middle-distance runners
- People from West Nile sub-region
- World Athletics Championships athletes for Uganda
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
- Commonwealth Games competitors for Uganda
- African Games competitors for Uganda
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2023 African Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics
- Olympic athletes for Uganda