ix athletes have been selected to represent Great Britain & Northern Ireland at the World Para Athletics Marathon World Cup, which is incorporated into the Virgin Money London Marathon, taking place on Sunday 26 April 2020.
In the elite men’s wheelchair T54 race, David Weir (coach: Jenny Archer; club: Weir Archer Academy), an eight-time winner of the London Marathon, will look to build on a great run of form over the last 12 months in which he has earned a place on the podium at three of the World Marathon Majors. Second place finishes at the Berlin and Chicago marathons were followed up with third place in New York last November.
His most recent victory in London came in 2018 when he entered the record books as the most decorated winner in the event’s history.
JohnBoy Smith (self-coached) was fourth in Chicago and sixth in New York in 2019 and he will be looking to improve on his best placing in London of 11th. Callum Hall (self-coached; Leeds City) and Simon Lawson (Ian Thompson; Carlisle Tri) have also been selected to join the T52/53/54 field.
After making a return to racing in 2019 following the birth of her son, Leo, in 2017, Shelly Woods (Peter Wyman; Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde) is selected for her first British team since the 2014 European Championships in the elite women’s wheelchair T54 race.
The three-time Paralympic medallist will make her return to the London Marathon for the first time in six years, an event she won in 2007, and arrives in good form after winning the Vitality Big Half on Sunday.
Finally, after making her international debut last year, Charlotte Ellis (self-coached; New Marske) will once again contest the women’s T12 race for athletes with a visual impairment. She was seventh in 2019, setting a personal best of 3:23:47.
The British Athletics team for the World Para Athletics Marathon World Cup, incorporated into the Virgin Money London Marathon, on Sunday 26 April 2020:
Elite Men’s Wheelchair T54 Marathon:
Callum Hall (self-coached; Leeds City)
Simon Lawson (Ian Thompson; Carlisle Tri)
JohnBoy Smith (self-coached)
David Weir (Jenny Archer; Weir Archer Academy)
Elite Women’s Wheelchair T54 Marathon:
Shelly Woods (Peter Wyman; Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde)