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 favourite 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 quick. 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 colours in Los Angeles in 2028.
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It means he finishes with 10 medals at Paralympic level, which includes six golds.
Four of those came at his peak at London 2012 when he did a clean sweep of the 800 metres, 1500 metres, 5,000 metres and the marathon.
Weir has not been as good as he was during that heady summer 12 years ago and he was left behind as rivals’ racing chairs became more sophisticated and technologically advanced.
And he left Rio in 2016 amid angry scenes, claiming he had been “stabbed in the back” by an unnamed British athletics figure.
Weir said: “I think it’s the right decision. Marathons are the event I want to do.
“I don’t want to do the track anymore. I got fast track times at the start of the year.
“And I’m proud of myself to get PBs in every discipline I’ve done this year. I can’t ask for more than that.
“I’ll look back on my career with pride. I don’t really pat myself on the back, I probably should really. I should be proud of what I have done.
“I’ll have to sit and think about it, it has been a long career. I have a lot of people to thank.
“My coach Jenny Archer, who has been there from day one, through thick and thin.
“To my wife who has been a great supporter over the last few years. She’s helped me mentally get in the best shape I can be.
“And my kids just love me when they see me racing. I’ve had a great career but I think it is time.
“I have a few projects I want to do, some away from sports. But I still want to do the marathon, so I don’t want people to think I have retired!
“I will still do the major marathons – I’m doing Berlin, Chicago and New York. Then, I’ll be preparing for the marathons next year.”
In the women’s T54 marathon, which was held at Invalides, Eden Rainbow-Cooper did not finish and withdrew from the race at 32 kilometres due to a back injury.
