Kingston’s Paralympic hero David Weir will not be turning his back on wheelchair racing even after he retires from the sport he has dominated for almost eight years.
The 33-year-old, who captured the hearts of the nation as the Weirwolf while winning four Paralympic gold medals last year, will not go quietly into the night.
Instead, Weir wants to become a role model to the next generation of wheelchair racers, in the same way he was inspired by the previous generation.
Iconic: David Weir became a national hero winning four gold medals at the London 2012 Olympics
To that end, Weir, who lives in Sutton but trains in Kingston, set up the Weir Archer Academy in Kingsmeadow.
He has also become an ambassador for Barclays My Space for Sport – an initiative promoting sports sites across the country for use by youngsters.
Weir, who recently visited Kingsmeadow in Kingston, and the Longmead Centre and Blenheim High School in Epsom in his ambassadorial role, said: “Going down to these places and seeing the kids practice sports, playing netball, basketball and football is great.
“They are in a safe environment. It keeps them out of trouble and from going in the wrong direction in their lives.
“But it is also about sport. There are coaches on hand at these sites to help the kids develop their skills.”
He added: “I trained at Kingsmeadow from the first day it opened. It has been in me for all my life. I don’t live in Kingston, but it is in my heart because I am always training there.
“Now I have opened my own academy there. I want to see wheelchair racing grow and see young adults and children getting involved because it is a fantastic sport.
“That is what being an ambassador is about, my goal is to inspire people into sport and that’s something I see myself doing long after I retire.”
The thinking behind the Barclays My Space for Sport initiative
It is not difficult to see the six-time World Champion being anything other than a role model to others as he inspires both young and old without even trying.
“I am at that stage where people look up to me, and they want to follow in my footsteps, not just in wheelchair racing but in able-bodied sports,” he said.
“I get joggers who tweet me telling me they have just run past my golden postbox and it has driven them to run a little further and things like that put a smile on my face.”
He added: “I had role models when I was growing up. In the very early days, watching the London marathon was the only time where you saw any wheelchair athletes on TV. Chris Hallam was superb.
“As I got into the sport, and getting good, there was one guy called Heinz Frei – he was in the final sprint in this year’s marathon, and at 53 years old he is an amazing athlete. He still holds the marathon world record.
“He’s a great ambassador for wheelchair racing and I would have loved to race him in his prime. It is a little odd racing against him as he always says I am better than him, but I don’t see it that way.”
David is the latest Barclays My Space for Sport ambassador, helping promote the 200 Barclays Spaces for Sports sites across the country. Find your nearest site at Barclays.com/spacesforsports
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