DAVID Weir waited 12 years to become a Paralympic champion – now the Briton is celebrating a second success in three days at Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium.
Weir triumphed in the men's T54 1,500 metres to claim his second middle-distance title after landing 800m gold on Saturday night.
It was Great Britain's 42nd gold medal of the Games, while silvers for athletes Shelly Woods and Mickey Bushell and
bronze medals for sprinters Hazel Simpson and Ian Jones and the men's wheelchair basketball team took the overall medals total tally to 102 after ten days of competition.
China have 87 golds and 207 medals in all, while Britain's place as the next best should be secure with the United States in third on 36 gold and 98 medals.
It was fitting that Weir's fellow wheelchair racer Woods won Britain's 100th medal of the XIII Paralympics. The 22-year-old from Blackpool was embroiled in a fiasco which saw her return a silver medal in an unprecedented ruling before being forced to return for a re-run in the women's T54 5,000m where she won bronze.
Weir was involved in his own medal wrangle over his 800m crown. The 29-year-old from Wallington, Surrey, crossed the line first on Saturday night but a protest from Australia over a lane mix-up saw the International Paralympic Committee order a re-run.
However, after a night's sleep – a restless one for Weir – Australia's Kurt Fearnley, the silver medallist, withdrew his appeal and the original result stood.
It was an agonising wait for Weir, who made his Paralympic debut aged 17 in Atlanta, and he admitted he was ready to abandon the Games after losing faith in the system.
But 48 hours after getting his hands on a Paralympic gold – the 800m medal ceremony was held the day after his win – Weir produced another brilliant tactical performance in wet conditions.
The man who won 400m silver and 5,000m bronze earlier in the Games despite suffering with illness, made a positive start and was clear alongside Prawat Wahoram at the bell.
The result came down to a home-straight sprint, but the Briton had too much power for the Thai to win in three minutes 10.34 seconds.
"I don't know what to say, I'm just overwhelmed," said Weir. "Everyone wants to win the 1,500m. Every wheelchair racer who does middle distance and above wants to win it because it's usually a demonstration race at Olympics or World Championships.
"At the Paralympics you see how many wheelchair racers started the 1,500 – 36 athletes, five heats, that's incredible. And I've just come out top."
Weir could add to his haul in the final event of the Games, the marathon. But after a gruelling championship, he has still to decide if he will take part. Weir will make the decision at 5am today – two and a half hours before the start.
"The marathon wasn't what I came here for, it was the track," he added. "I'll sleep on it and see how I feel in the morning."
Weir is content that he has achieved his aim in his third Paralympics and does not feel the need to prove himself again over 26.2 miles.
"I'm not greedy, I was happy with one gold," he added.
Woods finished second to Chantal Petitclerc as she claimed her second medal of the Games to bring up Britain's century.
"That's pretty cool," said Woods, the 2007 London marathon champion, who finished in 3mins 40.99secs, 1.11secs behind Petitclerc.
It was 38-year-old Petitclerc's fifth victory of the Games as she successfully defended the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m titles she won in Athens.
"It's an honour to race against Chantal, she's one of my heroes," added Woods, who is also poised to take part in the marathon.
"I'd love to win gold but if someone had said to me before the Games I'd take home a silver and a bronze I'd never have believed them."
Jones won his second medal of the Games after finishing third behind South Africa's Oscar Pistorius in the men's T44 400m.
Pistorius, known as 'Blade Runner' for his prosthetic legs, clocked a world record of 47.49secs, while Jones won bronze in 51.69.
Pistorius won an appeal to compete in last month's Olympics before subsequently failing to qualify.
His best time of 46.25 was set in open competition in Lucerne, Switzerland, in July in a last-ditch attempt to qualify for the XXIX Olympiad.
The damp track conditions were far from ideal for the 21-year-old's blades but he was thrilled with his latest performance. "Today is one of the proudest moments of my life," said Pistorius, who also won the 100m and 200m.
The full article contains 806 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
