Weir Wants Historic Seventh
Just seven months after winning four gold medals at the 2012 Paralympic Games, David Weir will return to London's streets on Sunday 21 April hoping to win his seventh London Marathon Wheelchair title.
Weir equalled Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson's record of six London Marathon victories in 2012, and could become the most successful male or female wheelchair racer in the event's history if he triumphs again in 2013.
"Winning a seventh London Marathon would be up there with all my Paralympic titles. I don't really want to stop when I'm equal with anyone; I'd like to be the main man, to get seven titles. It was my dream when I was young to win the London Marathon. It was the one race I most wanted to win in my career. I've done it six times, and I never get bored of it."
Weir followed victory here last April with an all-beating display at the Paralympics. After winning the T54 800m, 1500m and 5000m events in the Olympic Stadium, he took his fourth gold in the marathon on the final day with a thrilling sprint finish down The Mall ahead of Switzerland's Marcel Hug and defending Paralympic champion Kurt Fearnley of Australia.
All three Paralympic medallists will line up again on 21 April when they'll face stiff competition from nine-time Boston Marathon winner Ernst van Dyk, 2010 London champion Josh Cassidy, who raced to the world's fastest time in Boston last year, and official world record holder Heinz Frei, who won three London Marathon titles in the 1990s.
London 2012 Paralympic marathoners Masazumi Soejima and Nobukazu Hanaoka are two of the five strong Japanese racers, while past London winners Saul Mendoza of Mexico and Frenchman Denis Lemeunier are also in the field.
Three-time Chicago Marathon champion Joshua George leads the US challenge while Australia's rising star Nathen Arkley could be a surprise package.
A number of this year's wheelchair competitors will also be taking part in the Boston London Wheelchair Challenge, a new competition to find the best racer over two of the world's top marathons held less than a week apart. The 2013 Boston Marathon takes place on Monday 15 April.
David Weir will appear at a press conference along with a number of the London Marathon's elite wheelchair racers at the Tower Hotel, London, on Friday 19 April. Click here for further details.
Elite Entries
Bib no Name Country PB
21 David Weir GBR 1:27:46
22 Josh Cassidy CAN 1:18:25
23 Ernst van Dyk RSA 1:18:27
24 Masazumi Soejima JPN 1:18:50
25 Kurt Fearnley AUS 1:18:51
26 Heinz Frei SUI 1:20:14
27 Marcel Hug SUI 1:21:23
28 Saul Mendoza MEX 1:21:24
29 Kota Hokinoue JPN 1:22:01
30 Choke Yasuoka JPN 1:22:17
31 Rafael Botello Jimenez ESP 1:22:18
32 Denis Lemeunier FRA 1:22:31
33 Joshua George USA 1:22:50
34 Aaron Pike USA 1:22:55
35 Michel Filteau CAN 1:23:02
36 Hiroyuki Yamamoto JPN 1:23:16
37 Roger Puigbo Verdaguer ESP 1:23:22
38 Jordi Jimenez ESP 1:23:26
39 Nobukazu Hanaoka JPN 1:23:33
40 Tomasz Hamerlak POL 1:27:18
41 Nathen Arkley AUS 1:29:05
42 Richard Colman AUS 1:32:03
Click here to see all the 2013 Virgin London Marathon entry lists.