David Weir CBE, winner of six gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Paralympic Games and eight times winner of the London Marathon, is Alastair Eykyn’s guest on the latest Running on Emotion podcast.
In the discussion, David talks about navigating his disability as a child; his first race; negative experiences at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the dark times which followed; and getting back on track for the career-defining 2012 London Olympics.
He says he doesn’t sit counting his medals but thinks he doesn’t get the credit he deserves. In 2012, David says: “I’d look at my medal, absolutely ecstatic and overjoyed, but I’d have to put it in a drawer and forget about it because I had so many other races. It is tough if you do multiple events, because you can’t sit there and enjoy your success straightaway.”
Talking about his traumatic birth, he says that it was more so for his mother than himself, because she wasn’t aware he was disabled and there were complications with the birth. So much so, she had to be taken in for an emergency Caesarean and nearly died.
David talks about the disabilities being discovered after the birth and how his mum dealt with it. Growing up, he says: “It’s only when you get older you realise how strong you were as a kid.” On the estate where he lived, he was known as “David in callipers” and everyone was nice, treating him the same as anyone else.
He recalls: “It was more when I went off the estate that I felt the abuse. ‘You’re a spastic’ and bad words like that. You think ‘how did I put up with all that as a youngster’ and I didn’t because there were times where, probably every night, I would cry myself to sleep.”
David realised he had that drive and willpower to do well in something and knew sport was probably the only way he could make himself happy. He talks about his first race – how hard he trained, the hairs standing up on the back of his neck and the support from his mum and dad.
His experience at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta weren’t good, he explains why and says he just wanted to get home.
A dark period followed for David as he went on the rave scene, enjoying four years of doing what he wanted to do, but he got a wake-up call when one of his friends had a fit from doing too many drugs.
“It was a massive wake-up call because I thought ‘am I gonna die?’ Who’s next? What’s next? Can my body cope with this?” I started getting paranoid and yes, smoking and drinking. It’s a spiral every week because you say you’re not doing it anymore but then you fall into that trap again,” he says.
We hear how David’s coach got him back on track and the joy of his homecoming from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He also talks in depth about how the 2012 London Olympics defined his career and the celebrations: “I’ve never seen London like that – people hanging out windows, signs saying ‘David Weir is the best ever’, not the best in a wheelchair. It took hours to get to Buckingham Palace because I don’t think they expected millions of people coming out…it was truly mind blowing.”
Running on Emotion is available every Monday wherever you get your podcasts.
