David Weir made no attempt to hide his disappointment after his comprehensive defeat in the T54 800m final and said he will quit track racing after struggling during the Paralympics.
Four years after winning four golds in London, including three on the track, the six-times Paralympic champion has lost all three of his individual events in the Olympic Stadium in Rio. Weir is one of ParalympicsGB’s greatest ever athletes but he has been off the pace in each of his wheelchair races, finishing fourth in the 1500m, fifth in the 400m and sixth in the 800m.
“How do you think I fucking feel?” the 37-year-old said. “That’s racing; it’s moved on in four years. I felt sharp yesterday, just didn’t feel as sharp this morning. It’s just one of those things, isn’t it? I’ve got to deal with it and get ready for the marathon.
“That’s my last race on the track, so that will be it for me. That was my decision before I came out here. I was thinking about it hard with my team around me. I said this is my last track event. I said I want to retire at London Marathon next year. So I’ll give it one more winter’s training and bow out where I started.”
The prospect of appearing in next year’s world championships in London does not appeal to Weir, who did not speak to the media after the 800m heats on Wednesday night because of his unhappiness with the tone of some of the questioning after Tuesday’s 1500m final.
“Not for me,” he said. “I can’t. The track racing has moved on so much that it takes a lot out of your body to do everything. I’m four years older. I just want to give London Marathon one more crack.”
Although the T53/54 4x400m offers Weir one last chance to win a medal in the Olympic Stadium, he is more focused on Sunday’s marathon. It remains to be seen whether he will feature in Friday’s relay heats. The marathon will be his final Paralympics race, 20 years after he made his debut in Atlanta. “Sunday will be an emotional day for me,” Weir said. “It will be a big one and a hot one.”
Weir denied that missing his partner Emily give birth to their child has been a distraction. Lenny, Weir’s second son, was born on Sunday. “I know a lot of people have said about the baby being born but I’m happy now he’s here,” he said.
“It was one less worry, knowing that Emily was OK. I was fine as soon as I saw him and knew he was healthy and Emily was fine. So no, that’s got nothing to do with it.”
Weir said that too much was expected from him in Rio. Switzerland’s Marcel Hug claimed his first Paralympic gold with victory in the 800m, finishing in 1min 33.76sec. Thailand’s Saichon Chen took silver and South Korea’s Kim Gyu-dae bronze. In truth Weir was never in the race. He was at the back of the pack from the start and unable to push his way to the front despite repeated efforts to go round the outside. He finished in 1:35.20.
“Do you know what? A lot of people put the gold medals around my neck before I got here,” Weir said. “I knew that London was special and it was never going to be achieved again. Marcel could do it in the next four years but he’s only got one here.
“The world’s moved on. I just didn’t hit the form I hit the week before I came here. I was hitting max speed on the track, over 23mph, that I’ve never done before. I felt confident. Average speed in the park was higher than London 2012. I felt really good.
“Marcel is not young, he’s over 30. There is a peak period in your 30s I think that you can maintain and do some of the events. If you look at the marathon guys some of them 40 and still doing well. But on the track mid-30s is the prime for strength and speed.”
Weir won the marathon at London 2012 but he will face a strong challenge from Hug again. “The marathon I seem more comfortable at, so we’ll see,” he said. But it’s a flat course so it’s going to suit the fast guys. I’ll give it my best shot on Sunday and see what happens.”
The Londoner looked back to his achievements in his home city. “To me it was the pinnacle of my career,” he said. “I couldn’t have done it on a better stage. I peaked at the right moment and it worked for me. I came away with four gold medals. It’s never going to be taken away from me.”
In the evening session, Richard Whitehead shared T42 100m silver with Denmark’s Daniel Wagner after a neck and neck finish. Whitehead, the 200m champion, could not quite dip in front of Wagner in time after a scintillating burst in the final 50m, while Australia’s Scott Reardon won gold. There was also silver for Britain in the women’s T35-38 4x100m relay. ParalympicsGB’s gold medal haul rose to 49. There were individual dressage victories for Sophie Baker in the Grade 2 test and Sophie Christiansen in the Grade 1a test. Anne Dunham’s score of 73.957% in the Grade 1a event meant that she won the team event with Christiansen, moving Britain closer to their target of 121 medals overall.
