It’s EIGHT not out for Weirwolf in London
BRITAIN’S David Weir won his eighth London Marathon wheelchair race in thrilling style, producing a perfect sprint finish to come from third to first in the home straight.
The Paralympic star, nicknamed the Weirwolf, said it was ‘even better’ than his victory last year, which he had described as perhaps the best race of his career.
His winning time of 1hr 31min 15sec was nine seconds slower than in 2017, but Weir said his happier mental state meant he could enjoy it more. ‘Last year was a funny one for me,’ he said. ‘I didn’t know what state of mind I was in going into the race, or what physical state I would be in, to be honest, and to get that win felt weird.
‘This time my training has been great, my head seems in a better place, I know it is in a better place now. Having that time out last year gave me a lot of thinking time and a lot of rest to recharge the batteries for this season. I will definitely be doing the start of the Abbott World Series in Berlin.’
Asked if he felt hungry again to race at the highest level, he said: ‘I’m very hungry again.
I got bored (last year), to be honest. I am not one of those athletes who wants to do it to have fun. I want to compete.’
Paula Radcliffe’s marathon world record is still intact after a dramatic women’s race saw hot favourite Mary Keitany burn out and Vivian Cheruiyot win for the first time.
Keitany flew off the start line and was firmly on course for the world record, going through the halfway mark 46 seconds up on Radcliffe’s 2003 time of 2:15:25. But the 36-year-old paid the penalty for her early speed and struggled to fifth place.
Cheruiyot, 34, who was fourth on her London debut last year, overtook Keitany at the 22-mile mark and finished in a time of 2:18:30. Despite thinking for most of the race that she would finish third, she was pleased her tactics of starting slowly had paid off.
She said: ‘The reason it was so good for me today was because I started slowly. I didn’t go with the faster group because the faster group was quicker than I was at the start.
‘Then I came slowly, slowly. I didn’t want to race against anybody, I wanted to race alone. So I raced like that.’ In the closing stages of the race she said she saw Keitany and thought, “Yes, today I am going to be a winner of the London Marathon”.
Fellow Kenyan Brigid Kosgei was second and Ethiopia’s Tadelech Bekele was third.