Our president and sixth time Paralympian David Weir finished 5th in the men’s T54 marathon in the Tokyo Paralympics. He has been an absolutely amazing inspiration to so many young athletes and we wish him great success in the upcoming London Marathon in October.
Switzerland’s Marcel Hug took gold. Fellow Brit Johnboy Smith came 10th and Ireland’s Patrick Monahan was 12th.
David is now focussing on future events and after the race said “I was still in with a shout for a medal and I was hoping, but I knew it was going to be tough, that last couple of miles, because Daniel is so good uphill.
“I need to go back home and reflect on what I want to do. I’ve spoken to my team about certain things, I need to have a few weeks to think about things. Keeping up with Marcel is going to be mission impossible, maybe.”
“It has been a long five years for me, I’ve had my dark moments where I didn’t want to be here so to get here is just a mission. I’m proud of myself. I haven’t been emotional, but today I knew I would be because I don’t know if it is the end or not.
“I’ve got the London Marathon in a couple of weeks, I’ll do my best again and sit down and reflect on what I want to do.”
You can see more of his post race thoughts in the clip below:
Joe Gallagher, chairman of the Weir Archer Academy, gave a message we would like to echo: “What a great race to finish and everyone at the Weir Archer Academy is proud of everything Dave has achieved during his career. His legacy lives on through each and everyone one of us at the Academy, who you continue to inspire.”
We are so proud of David amazing achievements and look forward to welcoming him back home. We also wish him all the best for the London Marathon on 3rd October.
In the meantime catch up with our daily Paralympic news posts here.