David Weir, one of Great Britain’s most decorated Paralympians, has revealed that he has been increasingly concerned about the extent of doping in disability sport in recent years and has welcomed the decision to ban Russia from the Paralympic Games in Rio, which start on 7 September.
The wheelchair racer has won the London Marathon six times – and remains hopeful these Games will not be affected too much by major budget cuts – said he has been sceptical about times posted by some athletes before the court of arbitration for sport upheld the Russian Paralympic Committee’s suspension by the International Paralympic Committee because of evidence of state-sponsored doping.
Weir has called for the introduction of tougher measures to ensure the sport is clean. “It’s probably the right choice if they’ve got evidence that most of the athletes are on a doping programme,” the 37-year-old said. “It’s a bold step by the IPC and definitely the right one if they’ve got evidence. Every time I get on that track, I never want to suspect that someone’s cheating. As an athlete you hope that everyone’s clean and racing on a level playing field. Over the last few years I’ve started to doubt people, which you never want to do. You look at people’s performances and think ‘really?’ and not ‘wow’.”
Weir, who will be trying to win five gold medals at his final Paralympics, believes there is not enough testing outside the United Kingdom. “The doping policy needs to be a bit more thorough throughout disability sport,” he said. “Not in the UK, because we’re tested constantly, but throughout championships.
“London 2012 was thorough but it needs to be pushed more. We’ve seen athletes getting caught and if it’s happening in the mainstream, it’s got to be happening in the Paralympics. When I was at the European championships I did four events and got tested once. At the 2011 world championships in New Zealand I got tested once in the hotel and not at all in competition, despite winning three gold medals. At London 2012 I was tested every day. Maybe it’s manpower or funding. A lot of nations are throwing millions of pounds at medals and we want to deliver on a level playing field.”
Weir, who won four gold medals in London and two in Beijing in 2008, hopes that financial problems and poor ticket sales will not ruin the Paralympics. He was left disillusioned after performing in front of an empty stadium at his first Games, Atlanta 1996, and the Londoner does not want the new generation to go through the same thing.
“I feel they’ve been working very hard in Rio in the past couple of weeks and the IPC seems to have been trying their best to sort things out,” he said. “They’ve not been sitting there waiting and hoping. The British Paralympics Association have been brilliant trying to make sure everything is spot-on for us.
“I do feel a bit of worry for the first-timers after seeing London [2012] on telly or just missing out on it, training four years for Rio, getting there and going ‘is this supposed to be the best sporting platform’?
“That’s what I felt in Atlanta as a 17-year-old. I felt like the sport had no future. But it’s different in this day and age. Tokyo won’t be the same in 2020. We could just do a bit more to make sure it’s the best Games ever.”
