21 April 2018

Weir sprints to eighth London Marathon title

David Weir insists he has no plans to slow down after storming to his eighth Virgin Money London Marathon title.

Weir’s record on the capital’s streets is without parallel, he also won the Paralympic marathon title here as part of his four-gold haul at London 2012.

Last year he won the race for the first time in five years and admitted the pressure took its toll.

This time around he was determined to enjoy it, as he denied great rival Marcel Hug his third victory with a sprint finish win on the The Mall.

“I just want to keep breaking records, especially at the best marathon race in the world,” said Weir, who turns 39 next month, and clocked 1.31:15 in searing temperatures.

Podium time for wheelchair marathon champion Weir

Quote

"This feeling never goes away. I felt great the whole way around, the support was amazing as ever."

David Weir

“It was a really tactical and technical race and that was a tough sprint at the end. It’s weird that my endurance pace has got a lot better as I’ve got older.

“Every win is special but this one is really special. Last year I couldn’t really celebrate winning because of the state of mind I was in, I just feel a lot clearer minded now and I just love this race.

“I’ll have some time off now but not as much as last year. I’ll celebrate this and then look to the summer races and the other marathons at the back end of the year.”

Australia’s Madison de Rozario completed a memorable week with victory in the women’s wheelchair race - seven days after striking gold at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

Great Britain’s Jade Jones-Hall, after her Commonwealth Games triathlon gold and marathon bronze, finished seventh in a time 1.50.04, her quickest time on the London course.

There were further British podium finishes during the World Para Athletics Marathon World Cup, run in association with the London Marathon.

Rob Smith took victory in the T51/52 classification, beating Cristian Torres by more than two minutes while Derek Rae stormed to top spot in the T45/46 race in a time of 2:36.13.

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