Paris 2024 Flash Quotes: Para Athletics

Comments from ParalympicsGB athletes after the evening session.

David Weir

Result: First in men’s T54 5000m heat 2. Competes in the final on Saturday at 20:39 (CET)

Age: 45

Hometown: London

On his preparation:

“I had a few demons in my head the last couple of days because of what happened in Tokyo but I just focused on my ability and the times I've done this year. It’s not easy getting back up to number two in the world on the 5k. I'm in shape but I've had a long season already and quite tired. I'm happy, I just needed to get that race out of the way and I can now focus on the rest of the Games.”

On motivation:

“There were times last year when I was ready to call it a day after the London Marathon but once someone wanted to invest in me and get me the new chair, I had a rebound.

“I knew a new chair was coming and I trained hard so when I got in it I didn't have to struggle. Once I went to Dubai in February, I knew that I was in shape.”

On his ambitions for Paris:

“I don't set goals for medals anymore because I tried that in Tokyo and it just put too much pressure on me. I will just do my best tomorrow and hopefully it will be a medal and if it isn't, I'll move onto the next race. Probably the marathon is my best chance.”

Daniel Sidbury

Result: DNF in men’s T54 5000m heat 1

Age: 30

Hometown: London

On the result:

“It was a shame because I was psyching myself up for it. I was feeling confident going in. I made the wrong equipment choice. There was a bit more water on the track than I thought and I went for a dry-weather set of gloves as opposed to a wet weather set.

“The first few laps were okay and then I was slipping and I realised I was really going to struggle. Even though I managed to catch up the chasing pack, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to kick to outsprint them. I decided to pull out and conserve energy as there are more races to come, so hopefully we’ll do a little bit better.”