'Proud' athletics great Weir calls time on marathon Paralympic career / Photo: © AFP
'Proud' athletics great Weir calls time on marathon Paralympic career
An emotional David Weir said on Sunday he had "put his heart and soul" into his Paralympic career but now was the time for the British multiple champion to bring down the curtain on this chapter of his life.
That new chapter, says the man nicknamed 'Weirwolf, and termed "simply inspiring" by none other than Usain Bolt, will be a mix of competing in city marathons and a new role as a disc jockey.
The 45-year-old -- a six-time Paralympic gold medallist -- announced his decision after finishing fifth in the men's wheelchair marathon won by his great Swiss rival Marcel Hug.
Weir was speaking with Les Invalides -- where French emperor Napoleon is buried -- as the backdrop, a suitably majestic stage for Weir to do so given the service he had given para athletics over three decades.
The man who was born with a spinal cord transection that left him unable to use his legs is proud of the longevity of his Paralympic career.
"It's my last event for Great Britain," said Weir, who has also won the London marathon eight times.
"No more international racing for me, I'll do the city marathons.
"I feel proud and I am very emotional. To span that career since 1996 and before that, I nearly got selected for Barcelona as a 14-year-old.
"I've been at the top of my game for a long time."
- 'Big fan of DJing' -
Weir said although his teacher wife Victoria had tried to persuade him otherwise, his mind had been made. "I just feel it's the right thing for me," he said.
Weir, who had Victoria and his eldest daughter Ronie as well as friends watching his final hurrah, said one of his downs had been his "worst Games" in Rio in 2016, but London and Athens were memorable.
"London in 2012 was the big one obviously," he said of his astonishing haul of four gold medals.
"But before that, Athens. To come back after having two or three years out and getting on that podium for the first time in winning a silver and the bronze.
"That was probably my proudest moment. I didn't think I'd ever do it.
"That gave me the stepping stone to want more and more. If I didn't win there, I probably wouldn't be here now."
Weir admitted he had had a tough week in Paris but he had taken joy from seeing Marcus Perrineau-Daley's silver medal in the T52 100 metres as he is a product of his Weir-Archer Academy.
"I've put my heart and soul into the sport, and I will do still," he said.
"We're still pushing athletes through for GB, and that's what I'll do for the future but I also want to do other projects away from sport."
Music and spinning discs is the main one he espies on the horizon.
"I've got a few contacts that I've made, and that's what I want to do," he said.
"It's been my passion since I was a kid. It's my side line that I do, that I like to do.
"Electronic. House music and stuff like that.
"I'm a big fan of DJing. As a kid, I taught myself."
Signing off, he said although Paris organisers had done a "great job", there was "more that can be done", which he said he would only share with the International Paralympic Committee.
Regrets he may have a few, but he said he had chosen the right Games to bring down the curtain.
"It's quite sad that I won't wear the GB shirt again, but Paris is a good one to end on."
(V.Blanchet--LPdF)
