Men’s Wheelchair Preview: Weir chasing wheelchair marathon history
A rejuvenated David Weir returns to the Virgin Money London Marathon this year aiming to become the greatest wheelchair racer in the event's history by winning his seventh title.
Weir lost out to Australian Kurt Fearnley 12 months ago but the quadruple Paralympic champion claims to have got his "hunger back" after taking a partial break from racing in 2013 to recharge the batteries following his London 2012 triumphs.
Weir equalled Tanni Grey-Thompson's record of six London Marathon victories in 2012 and was hoping to add a seventh in 2013, but the Briton had to settle for fifth a year ago when he was beaten in a bunch sprint
With Fearnley absent this year due to the birth of his second child, Switzerland's Marcel Hug is likely to be Weir's main rival. The Swiss racer has been second three times in recent years and will be full of confidence after winning five gold medals at the IPC World Championships in Lyon last July, including the marathon. He added the New York Marathon title in November.
Hug won't be the only man Weir needs to watch, however, as the field is packed with champions, athletes such as official world record holder Heinz Frei, another Swiss racer, who won three London Marathon titles in the 1990s and triumphed at the Berlin Marathon last September.
There will also be stiff competition from 2010 London champion Josh Cassidy and nine-time Boston Marathon winner Ernst van Dyk.
Cassidy recorded the fastest wheelchair marathon time ever on the downhill Boston course two years ago, but the Canadian will feel he has unfinished business here after colliding with women's Olympic marathon champion Tiki Gelana last year.
Van Dyk also has a point to prove in London. Despite his dominance in Boston, the South African has never won the London Marathon, finishing second in 2000 and third in 2009 and 2013.
He has represented South Africa at every Paralympics since the Barcelona Games in 1992 and shows no sign of slowing down. He won the Chicago Marathon last October ahead of Fearnley and was only narrowly beaten by Hug in New York.
The field also includes this year's Tokyo Marathon winner Hiroyuki Yamamoto, one of two Japanese racers with their eyes on a podium place. The three-times Chicago Marathon champion, Joshua George, leads the US challenge just a month after winning the New York half marathon.
Eleven of the leading men's wheelchair competitors in this year's London Marathon will be taking part in the Boston London Wheelchair Challenge, a competition to find the best racer over two of the world's top marathons. The 2014 Boston Marathon takes place on Monday 21 April.
David Weir and Josh Cassidy will both appear at a press conference at the Tower Hotel, London, on Friday 11 April. Click here for further details.
