David Weir: "After I won gold"
Channel4 Paralympics
Inside Stories: David Weir - Athletics, wheelchair racing, Paralympic GB Team
The wheelchair-racing king discusses his achievements at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships
Winning a world championship gold is tough. Throw in a training schedule-wrecking injury and it's even tougher. Or so says the rulebook that David Weir took great delight in ripping to shreds at January's IPC Athletics World Championships, as he topped the podium not once, not twice, but three times just weeks after suffering a shoulder injury.
So how did cementing his place as middle-distance king in the men's T54 division - arguably one of the strongest on the track - feel? We caught up with the world 800- 1500- and 5,000-metre champion to talk about preparing for a major competition, what it feels like to top the podium and the sort of VIP treatment a world champion can expect upon his return home.
What was your preparation like in the build-up to the IPC Athletics World Championships?
"It wasn't that good to be honest. I had trained really hard for the New York Marathon in November and when I came back I hurt my shoulder in the gym. There was loads of snow, so I couldn't go out of my house to see the physio. I rested it for a week, but it got worse. Luckily there were no muscle tears. Once I got to Christchurch, the team manager gave me some sleeping pills to get over the jetlag so I could train to my full potential straight away."
You've had quite a few highlights in your career. How do your three IPC Athletics World Championship gold medals rank?
"It's really up there with my two gold medals at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. I wasn't even at my best in 2008 - I had glandular fever the year before - but now it finally feels like I'm back to my best. My immune system is stronger and I'm training to my potential. I've done three personal bests in the last 12 months and even though Marcel [Hug] was ahead of me for a bit of the year, I knew what I needed to do to beat him in Christchurch. "
What is your favourite of the three medals?
"The first one - the 800m - was good because it felt like I was back. I know I only won it by 0.01 of a second but I still won it and I knew I had more in the tank. Looking back at the 5,000m where I'm in sixth place with one lap to go shows just how strong and fast I was over there."
What was it like on the podium?
"It's the best feeling in the world. Just to see that flag go up and to be sitting there with all your GB stuff on, listening to the national anthem with that medal round your neck - it's what you train for. I'm a Championship winner and that's how I want it to stay. All I kept thinking was, I wish this year was 2012."
How did you celebrate?
"I was due to race in the marathon on the final day, but there was a problem - the roads were open to traffic so I pulled out because it was too dangerous. I didn't know what was happening with it until the morning of the last day, so I couldn't go out and celebrate my three golds wildly or anything. I had a few beers with everyone else on the last night and that was it really. It was all quite low-key."
What was the reception like when you got back?
"It's been pretty good. Obviously with the media and Channel 4 coverage, the papers and the local stuff it's been full-on. I went to the Indoor Athletics Championships soon after I came back and did a piece for the telly - I got treated like a VIP. It was nice to go to a competition and not actually race!"
Read the full interview on Channel4/Paralympics (texts by Davide Ghilotti)
Inside Stories: David Weir - Athletics, wheelchair racing, Paralympic GB Team
The wheelchair-racing king discusses his achievements at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships
Winning a world championship gold is tough. Throw in a training schedule-wrecking injury and it's even tougher. Or so says the rulebook that David Weir took great delight in ripping to shreds at January's IPC Athletics World Championships, as he topped the podium not once, not twice, but three times just weeks after suffering a shoulder injury.
So how did cementing his place as middle-distance king in the men's T54 division - arguably one of the strongest on the track - feel? We caught up with the world 800- 1500- and 5,000-metre champion to talk about preparing for a major competition, what it feels like to top the podium and the sort of VIP treatment a world champion can expect upon his return home.
What was your preparation like in the build-up to the IPC Athletics World Championships?
"It wasn't that good to be honest. I had trained really hard for the New York Marathon in November and when I came back I hurt my shoulder in the gym. There was loads of snow, so I couldn't go out of my house to see the physio. I rested it for a week, but it got worse. Luckily there were no muscle tears. Once I got to Christchurch, the team manager gave me some sleeping pills to get over the jetlag so I could train to my full potential straight away."
You've had quite a few highlights in your career. How do your three IPC Athletics World Championship gold medals rank?
"It's really up there with my two gold medals at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. I wasn't even at my best in 2008 - I had glandular fever the year before - but now it finally feels like I'm back to my best. My immune system is stronger and I'm training to my potential. I've done three personal bests in the last 12 months and even though Marcel [Hug] was ahead of me for a bit of the year, I knew what I needed to do to beat him in Christchurch. "
What is your favourite of the three medals?
"The first one - the 800m - was good because it felt like I was back. I know I only won it by 0.01 of a second but I still won it and I knew I had more in the tank. Looking back at the 5,000m where I'm in sixth place with one lap to go shows just how strong and fast I was over there."
What was it like on the podium?
"It's the best feeling in the world. Just to see that flag go up and to be sitting there with all your GB stuff on, listening to the national anthem with that medal round your neck - it's what you train for. I'm a Championship winner and that's how I want it to stay. All I kept thinking was, I wish this year was 2012."
How did you celebrate?
"I was due to race in the marathon on the final day, but there was a problem - the roads were open to traffic so I pulled out because it was too dangerous. I didn't know what was happening with it until the morning of the last day, so I couldn't go out and celebrate my three golds wildly or anything. I had a few beers with everyone else on the last night and that was it really. It was all quite low-key."
What was the reception like when you got back?
"It's been pretty good. Obviously with the media and Channel 4 coverage, the papers and the local stuff it's been full-on. I went to the Indoor Athletics Championships soon after I came back and did a piece for the telly - I got treated like a VIP. It was nice to go to a competition and not actually race!"
"The
first one - the 800m - was good because
it felt like I was back"
Read the full interview on Channel4/Paralympics (texts by Davide Ghilotti)