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.