Wallington-based wheelchair racer David Weir just failed in his bid to win the Flora London marathon title for a record-breaking fourth successive time on Sunday.

Weir, who won two golds at last year's Paralympics in Beijing, for once found his sprint finish was not enough to clinch the title.

He battled all the way with Australian Kurt Fearnley and South African Ernst van Dyk and it was all down to the sprint finish down The Mall after the trio raced past Buckingham Palace.

In the end, the Australian just sneaked it by a second in 1 hour 28 minutes 56 seconds, smashing Weir's course record of 1:29:48 set in 2006 with van Dyk a further two seconds down.

Weir, who trains regularly in Richmond Park and who took a long break after Beijing, didn't appear too disappointed.

He said: "It wasn't too bad a result as I have only been back in my chair for two months. I had a break after Beijing and I was limited to the amount of training I could do.

"All of these guys are doing marathons every other week. I only do two in a year."

He added: "I couldn't do much in the race. I thought to break but I was surprised a few more guys didn't come with us."

The fourth finisher was more than a minute behind.

"At the end I didn't have a little bit extra to fight to win. Overall I'm happy with the result considering how little training I have done."

Weir, 29, now plans to train to compete in the Paralympic World Cup in Manchester next month. However, he will not be doing the marathon there.

PLUS Worcester Park’s Phil Wicks dropped out after 25km as planned after pacing the second set of elite runners. He said it was a great experience and next year he is hoping he will compete in his own right as an elite athlete in the London race. The date for the 2010 race is Sunday, April 25.

Meanwhile, Wicks - from Worcester Park - expects to represent Britain in the European 10000m track race in Madeira, Portugal, on June 6, and the IAAF World half-marathon championships in Birmingham on October 11.

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