David Weir pinching himself over ‘perfect’ Paralympics

FOR David Weir, more than most, the summer of 2012 was the fulfilment of a fantasy – and he is still pinching himself.

Over nine days and seven races totalling 35.3 miles, the 33-year-old from Wallington, Surrey won four gold medals at the London Paralympic Games.

“I still feel sometimes it’s not happened. Someone’s going to wake me up and I’m still dreaming,” Weir said. “The way it went, everything was just perfect. It feels like fiction. It feels like I’ve sat down and read a great book on a sportsman that’s done something special.”

Weir, whose first Games were in Atlanta aged 17, became a hero as the nation marvelled at the power of the Paralympics.

His was a reward for perseverance, talent and hard work, much the same as another athlete whom he admires greatly.

After being inspired by Bradley Wiggins’ Tour de France triumph at the start of the summer, Weir was determined to finish the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games with victory. The six-times London Marathon champion took to the streets of the capital on 
9 September, the final day of the London 2012 spectacle, targeting a fourth gold.

Roared on by thousands, including a throng of more than 50 friends and family on the corner outside Buckingham Palace, Weir triumphed over 26.2 miles.

“I just dreamt of winning the last race of the whole of 2012,” added Weir, quiet, unassuming and modest but now nicknamed the Weirwolf of London due to his appetite for victory.

“That’s all I kept dreaming about, for the last year, that if I win that race on that Sunday down The Mall, it would stay in people’s minds forever and my mind forever.”

The moment that followed, with his son Mason on his lap and gold medal round his neck, parents and pregnant partner Emily watching on, was “surreal”.

That evening Weir performed flag-bearing duties at the closing ceremony alongside cyclist Sarah Storey, another with a haul of four gold medals but, since then, he has had time to reflect.

Emily has also given birth to the couple’s daughter, Tillia Grace London Weir. He said: “I’ve only recently looked back at a DVD that my mum’s friend put together – all my races, all my medal ceremonies, my clips of TV appearances afterwards. I just sat down for two days and watched it straight. There was nothing else on telly, it was just me. Then I started to realise what I achieved was special.”

The foundation for his achievements was based on hard work.

Shoulder problems meant Weir was short of confidence entering the Games but he knew he was a big championship racer, having won two titles in Beijing and 800 metres, 1500m and 5,000m gold at the IPC Athletics World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand in January 2011.

Weir, who trains at St Mary’s College, Teddington, enlisted the help of a group of cyclists for his road regime through Richmond Park.

It helped his stamina, while he also honed his tactical skills to devastating effect.

And, after winning 5,000m gold Weir’s confidence soared.

“All I wanted was one gold medal in my home Games, and I got it on the first night,” he said. “I just wanted to get a good start and I did it in the first final. I felt relieved and I could relax into the next races.”

He successfully defended his 800m – on Thriller Thursday – and 1500m titles and then it was the marathon.

He is not finished yet and finishing first on The Mall yet again is his next target.

“Hopefully I haven’t lost too much – but I think I have the amount of glasses of wine I’ve been drinking,” added Weir, who will seek a record seventh London Marathon win in April.

The plan is then to focus on each year at a time but the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow are on his radar. “It’s just one of those things I’ve not got on my CV,” he said. “You never know after that.”

A fifth Games in Rio de Janeiro were not on the agenda earlier this year but he has not ruled out the possibility. He said: “The only thing is mentally can I be driven for another four years and is it going to be as good as London? Not really. It won’t feel as special as London.”

For now, Weir, who hopes the momentum from the Paralympics is sustained, will enjoy the much-deserved acclaim.

Weir, who wore a British 
Cycling helmet during the Games, is Wiggins’ nomination for the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year and is one of three Paralympians in the top 12. The destination of Weir’s vote should come as no surprise.

“Bradley. He’s a special athlete,” he said.