Seventy minutes into the match, it became clear he was going. Weir had a 90 second lead over the field with about six miles to go. And that’s when the wheelchair’s left tire burst. “Oh no,” he said as he slowed and pulled over to the side of the road. Shortly after his teammate Johnboy Smith had passed him. Smith, 32, called out to ask Weir what had happened and swore loudly when he found out. “I didn’t want to win by default,” Smith said. He thought he could catch Weir and was annoyed that he was robbed of his chance to fight. Behind him, Weir finished seventh, 24 minutes behind Smith. He got one hell of a standing ovation when he finished. “Where I come from,” he said, “you don’t give up.” Weir wasn’t sure how it happened, he hadn’t hit anything and they were new tires too. He was left cursing himself. He never carries spares, worried they’d be jinxed. “But for the last few weeks I’ve had a feeling that something like this was going to happen. I even told my wife I might take a spare with me, I brought the CO2 tanks and everything, and all week I was asking myself, ‘Should I take it?’” At the starting line, Weir said, he was still looking into his bag, asking himself whether or not to take the gear with him. He decided not to. “I should have gone with my gut.” He was confident he had enough of a lead to make the switch and get back into the race. “Even if John had caught me, I could have finished it in the sprint.” He was completely disappointed. England’s Johnboy Smith after winning gold in the men’s T53/54 marathon. Photo: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images Weir has spoken candidly about how badly he’s suffered from depression in the past, especially after the Rio Paralympics in 2016. He had a bad time at the Tokyo Games last year and clearly had a lot invested in the idea of ​​winning here. “I feel despair,” he said, “and I’ve never felt despair in a race before.” In its own way, Smith’s win was a reminder of all that Weir has achieved in his career. Smith, a journeyman, was paralyzed at 16 when he was shot in the back by a farmer who he mistakenly believed was hunting him. The farmer was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm. Smith started competing in weightlifting and then switched to throwing after being inspired by the London Paralympics in 2012. He then decided to switch back to wheelchair racing. He wasn’t sure how to start by typing “where does David Weir train?” on Google and it went from there. He ended up at the Weir Archer Academy, which Weir runs with his coach, Jenny Archer. Weir took one look at Smith and told him he needed to lose four stone and would have to come back in six months if he was serious. Smith did, and they’ve been training and racing together ever since. “I’ve had a lot of support, don’t get me wrong,” Smith said, “But I’m not a working class person. I don’t have a gym membership, I train in a single garage in the back of my garden with a leaky roof and a set of rusty bells. But I have a gold medal around my neck. Nothing is impossible. Believe it. Aim high, dream big, it can be done. I am proof.” Subscribe to The Recap, our weekly email of editors’ picks. Behind Smith, Scotland’s Sean Frame won the silver medal and England’s Simon Lawson won the bronze. England’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper won the women’s silver, behind Australia’s Madison de Rozario. The crowd was out in force for everyone, which seemed like a testament to the impact Weir’s London 2012 performances had on para-sport in this country. “Don’t write David Weir off,” Smith said. “He’s not old, he’s a supreme athlete. If Her Majesty the Queen is watching or listening, give him a knight. He deserves to be Sir David Weir.”