成人论坛

Bird's Nest Stadium, Beijing

At the Bird's Nest on Wednesday there were some but not from the person we expected it from.

David Weir's T54 400m race was one of the biggest finals in the evening session, the one that we all thought (including many of the international coaches, athletes and British fans that had come to watch) that he was going to be the cert to win.

If I was a betting person then I would have put all my money on David Weir.

.

To say that I was lost for words was an understatement that I haven't quite recovered from.

China's Zhang Lixin annihilated the world record and left the rest of the field, including David, trailing in his wake, and we all sat there stunned, but all you can say is that is sport.

David had said after his semi-final race on the previous night that he didn't feel great, he felt full of cold, he was tired, but none of us were worried, as most athletes don't feel too well when they are just about to put themselves in that situation.

Before the London Marathon he said he was sick, and , so that was why we weren't panicking.

During his post-race interview, he was at a loss too. He talked about getting a blood test, about how he felt like he did when he had glandular fever at the beginning of the year.

We are all keeping our fingers crossed that it is just disappointment that is making him feel this way.

If you had taken his race in isolation, you would have to say that it was a great race. He broke his personal best and posted the second-fastest time in the world ever.

He started well, and had a strong second bend, but you could sense when he looked up with 150m to go, that he knew it wasn't going to be his night, and, to be honest, he did well not to come third.

It was an unfamiliar situation for David. Over the last three years he has rarely been beaten and been used to being at the front and being in control.

Sitting in the media stands we were only about 30 metres away from his medal ceremony; we could all see the bitter disappointment on his face and his haste to leave the arena.

The incredibly tough job for the team around David now, is to help him get his head straight in order for him to compete in Thursday morning's 800m heats and they only have a few hours to do it.

He is bound to be hugely disappointed as he went into the 400m saying that it was his strongest event, and no one contemplated anything less than gold.

There is also nothing really that you can say to him right now that will make him feel better.

So much has to come from himself and the coaching staff that can get close to him in the village.

A few hours reflection may help him realise that his race was really good, just that there was someone faster.