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 favorite 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 quickly. 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 colors in Los Angeles in 2028.
In the women’s T54 marathon, which was held at Invalides, Eden Rainbow-Cooper did not finish and withdrew from the race at 32 kilometers due to a back injury.
