After competing as one of two South Sudan athletes at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, Abraham Guem has returned to Japan to kick off his professional athletic career.
“I want to show that sports can change the future,” said the 23-year-old Guem, who was appointed this past spring as a board member of South Sudan’s Olympic committee and has been in Japan since May.
Guem set a national 1,500-meter record while being eliminated in the heats at the Tokyo Olympics, but his times worsened after returning home to a more difficult training environment.