Sport was in the family from day one. I always knew I was going to do some kind of sport, obviously it wasn’t going to be boxing and my second love is football, but I needed to find a sport that suited my needs and obviously my disability.
I actually wanted to play basketball as I thought I would be a team orientated man, the trouble was there were no decent teams in South London, they were all in North London. Both my parents had jobs so there was little chance to go.
I always used to watch the London Marathon because it was really the first time you saw people competing in wheelchairs on TV. I do remember saying I’d love to do that one day, but never really expected to.
My school got leaflets about the London mini marathon, so I asked my parents if I could go and try it. I did the trials and got the bug for it. I was eight years old when I did my first mini marathon which was three miles, I didn’t win it, but I’d found a sport I could enjoy, it was me competing against other disabled athletes.
All my mates were playing in mini league football and would come back from games and training and always had stories to tell. I didn’t. But through competing in wheelchair races I had stories to tell too, I could come back and tell my friends about the race and how I was doing.
I’d be about 11 years old when I played in a basketball competition at Stoke Mandeville. I was playing in a makeshift team and we did really well, we made the final. In the afternoon I was racing on the track, I won all that I competed in. I got a totally different buzz from winning those races than I did from playing in a team sport. I said to my Dad there and then that this was the sport I wanted to do, I wanted to concentrate on the racing.
I think that choice was due to the fact that If I lost at racing, that was my own problem and I could do something about it, but with team sport, I could play really well but still be on the losing side.
When I’m training now, I train as if I’m racing, I get motivation from races that I could have won but didn’t. I’ve competed at every single distance from 100M to the Marathon and strive to ensure I am prepared both mentally and physically to win the next race. I think the Marathon is probably my weakest distance, I have to train harder for that than any other.
A year before London 2012 my coach asked me which race I wanted to win. I said the marathon, I knew if I set that goal, I would have to train that extra bit harder and would then win the other races on the track too.
I’ve always had something happen to me before major championships. In 2006 leading up to the World Championships I had a horrendous crash on the track about eight weeks before. I ended up being hospitalised, with stitches in my hand, but picked myself up and went on to win two gold medals. The same thing happened leading up to the 2008 Bejing Olympics, I contracted glandular fever the year before, I couldn’t train to my full potential, I didn’t feel great at all but still won two golds, a silver and a bronze.
Ahead of the World Championships in New Zealand, I picked up and injury in the New York marathon which meant I couldn’t train for 10 weeks and only really got a months worth of decent training in before flying out. I still came home with three gold medals.
Ahead of London 2012 I wanted everything to be perfect. I wanted to be mentally in the best shape I could be. I didn’t want any injuries or illnesses, no hiccups going in to the games. The last ten weeks of training were the best I had ever had. I knew going in to the games I was in the best physical and mental shape I had ever been. I didn’t want to disappoint the team who have helped me through my career.
When you see 80,000 people in the Olympic Stadium, in the city you were born and raised in and you are the only Brit in the race, you don’t want to disappoint them either!
The atmosphere was just incredible. I was determined to win on the track, but also win the marathon too. I’d had the perfect preparation, was in the best condition of my life and ready to win.
I got off to the perfect start and I think I got under the skin of my main rival, I had the psychological advantage and built on that, winning each race and picking up gold medals
My fourth gold, the marathon was probably the most satisfying moment of my career so far.
After London I sat down with my coach to consider what to do next, was it time to consider retirement? Well it was only two years till the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and I’d never competed for England, so thought I’d give it a go, I’m glad I did too as the atmosphere and experience was fantastic.
As for Rio in 2016?......
David Weir CBE
David is supporting the Sporting Memories Network
What are your favourite memories of London 2012?
Memory added on May 17, 2015
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