An unimaginable profession spanning three many years impressed by a number of brief seconds of TV footage – David Weir’s objective in life instantly grew to become to race within the London Marathon.
Now 45, Weir has turn into a legend of the long-lasting race and can compete within the capital for the twenty fifth yr in a row this Sunday – armed with a brand new racing chair that has seen him break private bests throughout a number of distances on the monitor and given him the instruments to propel himself again into rivalry for a ninth victory in London.
Competing in the identical chair as long-time rival Marcel Hug in a marathon for the primary time, Weir completed in third place and 6 minutes behind the ‘Swiss Silver Bullet’ as he gained his seventh Boston Marathon on Monday.
“It is mainly a System 1 chair as a result of it is made by Sauber (which has a System 1 group below the identify Stake F1 Group Kick Sauber), it feels superb to push,” Weir informed BBC Sport.
“I am very aero[dynamic], the chair’s aero, it is a full carbon chair – it is nice to be in.
“Marcel is on prime of his sport and is the grasp of the marathon distance in the intervening time, it is a particular race for me as a result of it is the place I began my journey.”
The chair is price as much as £35,000 with full specs and was developed by Sauber and Orthotec in collaboration with Hug,, external who has gained marathons in Berlin, New York, London, Boston and Chicago with it, in addition to breaking world data on the monitor.
Weir has been resurgent in his preparations for the marathon and Paralympics in Paris this yr, breaking the T54 5000m British document in February on the Dubai Grand Prix in February, ending simply 0.2 seconds behind Hug because the Swiss set a brand new world document.
He additionally set new private bests within the 800m and 1500m and now he has his sights set as soon as once more on competing on the monitor and within the marathon occasions on the Paralympics, regardless of beforehand retiring from monitor competitors.
“I’ve received my spark again, I really feel like I am 10 years youthful,” he stated.
“It was a shock to me in Dubai as a result of I did not suppose I may sustain with the blokes however I raced very well.”
