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Tom Dradiga

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Tom Dradiga
Personal information
Nationality Uganda
Born17 June 1996 (28 years, 146 days old)[1]
Home townWest Nile sub-region, Uganda[2]
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Weight67 kg (148 lb)[1]
Sport
SportAthletics
Event800 metres
ClubUganda Wildlife Authority[2]
Club Atletismo Unión Guadalajara
Coached byEdwin Kinalya
Mario Peinado
Jesús Peinado
Achievements and titles
National finals
Personal best800m:
1:44.74 (2023)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Uganda
African Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Douala 800 m
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

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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

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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

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Best performances

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Event Mark Pl. Competition Venue Date Ref
800 metres 1:44.74 4th Meeting Madrid Madrid, Spain 22 July 2023 [1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Tom Dradiga at Tilastopaja (registration required)
  2. ^ a b c "Dradiga outruns Bekele, Idow to clinch gold in Djibouti Championships". New Vision. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Stockholm 2023 Full Media Information Sheets" (PDF). Diamond League.
  4. ^ "Athletics recap for meeting #303541". Tilastopaja.
  5. ^ "Brits in winning form in Germany and USA – overseas results round-up". AW. 23 May 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Mariano García reta a Adrián Ben en el duelo de campeones de Europa en Madrid". MARCA (in Spanish). 3 July 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Club Atletismo Unión Guadalajara". www.caug.es. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  8. ^ Sands, Rich. "World Champs Men's 800 — Arop's Patience Rewarded". Track & Field News. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  9. ^ "Ugandan sprinters set for Djibouti Athletics Championships today". New Vision. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
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