At 32, Weir’s Not Slowing Down Yet

“I’m a pretty lone man. I haven’t ever had anyone come to a Paralympics or a World Championships before, so it will be a bit different next year, obviously, because it’s at home.”

Editor’s note: This is the final part of an eight-part series featuring some of the top competitors in Athletics as we approach the one-year mark to the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

London 2012 will be David Weir’s third Paralympic Games, but it will be the first ones his family will attend.

“I’m a pretty lone man,” Weir said. “I haven’t ever had anyone come to a Paralympics or a World Championships before, so it will be a bit different next year, obviously, because it’s at home.”

And it is perfect timing for the British wheelchair racer, a two-time Paralympic Games gold medallist coming off his fifth London Marathon victory who believes he is in the best form of his career.

Weir said the defining moment of his illustrious career thus far actually came in January, when he won gold in the 800m, 1,500m and 5,000m T54 races at the 2011 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand.

With a new wheelchair, and after bouncing back from a shoulder injury to win the New York Marathon last November, he stole the show in Christchurch by taking down his arch-rival, Switzerland’s Marcel Hug, in three races.

“I was pretty much written off because Marcel was beating me and broke my world records. He was the No. 1 man, and I knew what I needed to do,” Weir said.

“It was nice to come away with three gold medals and do so well finally.”

Weir has the shoulders of a weightlifter and is training six days a week from now until next summer for what could be his final Paralympic Games. In London, Weir hopes to break Hug’s current world records, and his top priority will be winning the 1,500m.

“It’s like the blue ribbon in Paralympic Sport,” he said. “It’s like the 100m is in able-bodied – everyone wants to win the 1,500m just because there are so many competitors in that event.”

Off the track, the 32-year-old has kept busy with his newborn son and sponsorships, doing corporate days, speaking engagements and audio and video blogs for the likes of Allianz and BMW.

With everything on his plate, he expects the Paralympic Games to be here in no time.

Weir said his body could start slowing down in the near future, and while he already knows he wants to pursue DJ-ing and try out dog breeding once he leaves sport, he is going to wait until after London to decide whether to retire.

At the moment, Weir’s nerves are beginning to kick in with three more Paralympic golds in sight. And for the veteran, still having nerves is good.

“It just shows that you are still ready and hungry to race and do well,” Weir said.