Dan Greaves of Great Britain reacts after his final attempt in the Men's Discus Throw - F44 Final at the 2012 London Paralympic Games
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Silver medallist Dan Greaves of Great Britain and gold medallist Jeremy Campbell of the United States and bronze medallist Farzad Sepahvand of the Islamic Republic of Iran pose on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Men's Discus Throw F44 final at the London Paralympics
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After losing out on gold at London 2012 to USA’s Jeremy Campbell, Britain’s Dan Greaves will be even more determined to retain his Discus F44 world title at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France.
Carrying a slight injury going into London, Greaves was unable to recreate his 2011 form which saw him win the world title and break the world record three times. In the Olympic Stadium he still threw 59.01m to take silver and created one of the images of the Games by breaking off from his competition to hug teammate Jonnie Peacock during his 100m T44 lap of honour.
London was the thrower’s fourth Paralympic Games, having made his debut in Sydney when he won silver (46.04m) behind America’s Shawn Brown (47.96m).
Four years later in Athens, Greaves threw a world record 55.12m to take gold and again took top spot (53.83m) at the 2006 IPC Athletics World Championships in the Netherlands.
With world and Paralympic titles in the locker, Greaves started harbouring ambitions of competing in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
A disappointing bronze-medal finish (53.04m) at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games put paid to that and Greaves instead focussed his attention on regaining his world number one ranking from American Jeremy Campbell (55.08m) who had taken gold in China.
His focus certainly delivered the goods. At the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in New Zealand, Greaves smashed the world record with a throw of 58.98m. Then at the 2011 BT Paralympic World Cup in Great Britain, he threw 59.27m. That record lasted less than a month as in June he threw 59.58m at the US Paralympic Track and Field Championships.
Greaves lost his word record in 2012 to Campbell after the powerful American became the first athlete to throw over 60m. To win gold in Lyon, Greaves is likely to have to throw over 60m himself.
