David Weir suffered a puncture while leading the men’s T53/54 wheelchair marathon; it ended his medal chances but the athlete determinedly made it across the line; England’s Johnboy Smith finished first and won the gold medal
By Emma Thurston
Last Updated: 30/07/22 11:44am
David Weir had his gold medal chances ripped away from him by a mechanical issue
David Weir suffered an agonising puncture while leading the men’s T53/54 wheelchair marathon, it ended his medal chances but the athlete determinedly made it across the line saying “you just don’t give up on anything”.
Weir’s Commonwealth Games marathon went from him executing a perfect race plan and breaking the field early to a nightmare in an instant.
The experienced and highly decorated athlete had created a lead of over a minute when he was on his way back towards the finish line on the final lap of the course. However, when his left tyre popped and punctured, his chance of winning gold was erased.
Weir showed exceptional fortitude to keep on going and push his way to the line using his punctured chair, while those he had previously led overtook him.
“If I didn’t have my mates in the last 4km running beside me I probably would have stopped because the hills were just… (tough),” Weir said to the BBC after the race.
“From where I’m from, a council estate, you just don’t give up on anything. That’s what just kept going through my head, especially when I saw the lads running beside me. It’s quite emotional really.”
The course for the marathon was undulating and challenging, for both the wheelchair athletes and the men’s and women’s runners who took to it after them.
England’s Johnboy Smith overtook Weir after the mechanical issue and went on to secure Commonwealth gold.
Following the race, Smith joked that he was going to have a word with the course designers about its composition. He cut an emotional figure alongside his coach, before then sharing his admiration for Weir.
“I won, but the better man didn’t win today,” Smith said.
“I take my hat off to Dave… he had me. He deserves gold and I should have got silver. These things happen.”
Smith praised his compatriot and said the gold medal belonged to Weir
Weir himself spoke about the indecision he’d faced ahead of the race, when it came to carrying a spare wheel or not. Mechanical stations aren’t situated on the course and spare wheels are not carried by team cars or anything of that fashion in wheelchair marathon races.
“I just feel like I haven’t had enough luck lately at major championships, since Rio really to be honest,” Weir said.
“I do the marathon circuit and come in the top three against the top in the world and the last 10 weeks of training have been probably the best I’ve done in years.
Weir had felt in great shape ahead of the race and the lead he’d built highlighted that
“I just had a lot of confidence coming in here. I was debating whether to bring a spare [tyre]… I’ve never brought one in a race, ever in my life. I thought that if I did take one then I’d have jinxed myself.
“It’s funny because my wife and I spoke about it,” he continued. “I said if I had a big lead then I’d have time to change the tyre, but she did say I haven’t done it before.
“I should have gone with my gut and I didn’t. That’s racing for you, isn’t it? I’ll know for next time.”
Weir finished in seventh position, crossing about 20 minutes after his rivals. Scotland’s Sean Frame secured the silver medal behind and England’s Simon Lawson took bronze.
In the women’s race, Team England’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper dipped under the two-hour mark for the first time to win her first Commonwealth Games medal, a silver medal.
Australia’s Madison de Rozario, who looked imperious throughout, defended her title ahead of Rainbow-Cooper.