DAVID WEIR said an emotional goodbye to the Paralympic Games after 28 years, admitting, "Age has caught up with me."
The Weirwolf, 45, claimed he felt “destroyed” as he struggled in his final race at his seventh Paralympic Games.
South London’s favorite wheelchair racer was fifth in the men’s T54 marathon with a time of 1:33:27, which was five minutes and 48 seconds off champion Marcel Hug of Switzerland.
Weir, whose first Games were at Atlanta in 1996 said: “It was quite emotional at the end because this will be my last race for Great Britain.
“I’ll still do the major marathons, I still enjoy doing them. But it’ll be my last international.
“My body just couldn’t cope with it. It’s an age thing. I was the oldest in the field.
“I’m still highly competitive and still trying to beat someone like Daniel (Romanchuk) who is half my age, I could be his dad.
“It was a tough race, tough conditions. I just wasn’t up to speed at the beginning. It just went off so quickly. I couldn’t keep up.
“Once we got on the Champs-Élysées, it just destroyed me, to be honest, it just hurt my neck and back.”
Weir is not retiring from competition and will continue racing marathons, which pay lucrative appearance fees and prize money, but he is not going to be in GB colors in Los Angeles in 2028.
In the women’s T54 marathon, which was held at Invalides, Eden Rainbow-Cooper did not finish and withdrew from the race at 32 kilometers due to a back injury.
The Weirwolf, 45, claimed he felt “destroyed” as he struggled in his final race at his seventh Paralympic Games.
South London’s favorite wheelchair racer was fifth in the men’s T54 marathon with a time of 1:33:27, which was five minutes and 48 seconds off champion Marcel Hug of Switzerland.
Weir, whose first Games were at Atlanta in 1996 said: “It was quite emotional at the end because this will be my last race for Great Britain.
“I’ll still do the major marathons, I still enjoy doing them. But it’ll be my last international.
“My body just couldn’t cope with it. It’s an age thing. I was the oldest in the field.
“I’m still highly competitive and still trying to beat someone like Daniel (Romanchuk) who is half my age, I could be his dad.
“It was a tough race, tough conditions. I just wasn’t up to speed at the beginning. It just went off so quickly. I couldn’t keep up.
“Once we got on the Champs-Élysées, it just destroyed me, to be honest, it just hurt my neck and back.”
Weir is not retiring from competition and will continue racing marathons, which pay lucrative appearance fees and prize money, but he is not going to be in GB colors in Los Angeles in 2028.
In the women’s T54 marathon, which was held at Invalides, Eden Rainbow-Cooper did not finish and withdrew from the race at 32 kilometers due to a back injury.
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SportsTranscript
00:00David were said an emotional goodbye to the Paralympic Games after 28 years, admitting,
00:11age has caught up with me. The werewolf, 45, claimed he felt destroyed as he struggled in
00:17his final race at his seventh Paralympic Games. South London's favourite wheelchair racer was
00:22fifth in the men's T54 marathon with a time of 1 hour 33 minutes and 27 seconds,
00:28which was 5 minutes and 48 seconds off champion Marcel Hugg of Switzerland.
00:32Weir, whose first Games were at Atlanta in 1996 said,
00:36it was quite emotional at the end because this will be my last race for Great Britain.
00:40Weir is not retiring from competition and will continue racing marathons,
00:44which pay lucrative appearance fees and prize money,
00:47but he is not going to be in GB colours in Los Angeles in 2028.