SaqBy Megan Armitage in Paris
Just days before his seventh Paralympic Games appearance, David Weir was still battling the demons in his head.
The 45-year-old admitted that after his performance at the 2023 London Marathon he was close to calling time on his athletic career, but that a new chair donated by an unknown benefactor was the key to his comeback.
Add to that missing the T54 5000m final in Tokyo and Weir revealed doubts have started to creep back in ahead of his Paris 2024 debut on the track.
But after a composed performance that saw the Briton cruise through his heat and qualify third for the 5,000m final, he knew it was all down to what had been a bumper year at the top.
“There were times last year when I was ready to quit, but once someone was willing to invest in me and give me a new chair, I bounced back,” he said.
“I had some demons in my head the last few days because of what happened in Tokyo, but I just told myself to focus on my abilities and the times I’ve achieved this year and have confidence in myself.
“It’s not easy to come back to second place in the world in the 5,000m.
“I’m in good shape but I’ve already had a long season and I’m quite tired. But I’m happy, I just needed to finish this race and now I can focus on the rest of the Games.”
The Briton started strongly in a pack that refused to split for the first 3,000 metres and held the pace to resist a final charge from Thailand’s Saichon Konjen and cross the line first.
He will now head into the final against his close friend and seemingly untouchable Marcel Hug of Switzerland, who qualified in first place.
But with his best event, the marathon, still to come, Weir is ready to see how close he can get to Hug this time around.
“I don’t set medal goals anymore because I tried that in Tokyo and it put too much pressure on me,” he said.
“I will do my best and I hope it will be a medal and if not I will move on to the next race.
“The marathon is probably my best chance. I’m number three in the world in the marathon and I was in the top three in the last two races on the circuit, so I would say that was my best chance.
“It’s not a great course so it might suit Marcel and me but we’ll see.”
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