Pan Am Gold for Jenson Van Emburgh

Posted on December 17, 2023

Earlier this week, we took a few moments to catch up with Jenson Van Emburgh. If you don’t know, in the world of Paralympic table tennis, Jenson is one of the best known players. He’s an exceptional American talent consistently winning medals at major events on the international stage.

(Q1) Focusing on your recent activity and successes, can you give us an overview of your recent tournaments? What have you been doing by way of preparation? Are you at a point where you are gearing up for each one with a particular strategy for each – or is this a steady push forward, or something else?

In the month of November I traveled to Paris, France and Santiago, Chile for the French Para Open and ParaPan American Games.

Since I have been training nonstop since the beginning of the year, my preparation was pretty much a steady push forward and making sure all of my strengths were sharp. I didn’t want to change too much in my game just before two very important tournaments.

The first tournament I competed in was the French Para Open. On the way to winning the bronze medal, I managed to win against the France’s top player, and then I fell to the World No. 2 in a nailbiter (11-13 in the fifth game) in the Semifinal. Even though it was a tough loss and I wish I could have won, I was very happy with how I played and my form for the next tournament. I then flew directly from Paris to Santiago, Chile to compete in the ParaPan American Games. Since I was the highest ranked player and the favorite to win. The biggest challenge for me during the competition was dealing with the pressure and performing at my very best. I comfortably made it to the Semifinal and avenged my loss from the Final at the last Pan Am Games. I then played against Fabio Silva of Brazil, comfortably winning 3-1 and taking home the gold!

(Q2) GOLD!… Give us some of the highlights of the event and what it means.

To finally be able to win the ParaPan American Games after losing in the Final at the last one. It was such a relief and I am proud of my improvement as a player and all the hard work I put in the last four years to replace the Silver with the Gold this time around!

(Q3) I assume you were already “in” for Paralympics – but the ParaPan American Games victory also carries an automatic qualification, right?

Yes I was technically qualified for the Paralympic Games due to my World Ranking being very high. But it still feels very nice to be one of the first ones that can say they are “officially qualified” for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

(Q4) What’s next? what’s on the schedule for tournaments, what is your plan for training? Is there a pause for you – or are you amping this up and going 100% from now until next Summer?

I took a break after Pan Ams for about ten days to let my body rest and recover but I am now in Naples, Florida preparing for the US Para Open that will take place on January 16th to 18th in Corpus Christi, Texas.

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If you are interested in becoming directly involved in Jenson’s training efforts, visit Operation Gold a GoFundMe page dedicated to helping Jenson procure coaching, equipment, and helping to cover his living and travel expenses as he struggles to make table tennis (and his quest for Gold as he represents the USA) his full time job.