Simon Lawson is heading to Rio!
By Sean Lawless on 3rd Aug 16
Former top youth motocross racer Simon Lawson has been called up to the Team GB squad for this years Paralympics in Rio in September.
The 34-year-old, who works at Jack Horseman Motorcycles in Carlisle, was paralysed in a motocross accident in 2001. He will represent his country in the marathon alongside six-time Paralympic gold medallist David Weir.
"It was great to get the phone call and be told I was going to Rio,” he said. "I'm chuffed to bits. I can't wait to go.”
Lawson set a personal best of 1:29 in Seoul at the end of May. To give you an idea of his pace, the world record in his T53/54 category is 1:20.14. The able-bodied world record is 2:02.57.
He'll travel to Brazil as part of a 53-strong squad that covers all disciplines.
"My chances are pretty good. To get selected you have to go through a long process and the final stage is when they pick people on medal potential across the whole squad. So if they thought there was a long-jump guy with more medal potential than me the team would field an extra long-jumper and ditch me.
"Anyone who's got in that last 53 has got pretty good medal potential so they must have a bit of faith in me.”
With a huge amount of international experience, Lawson's not worried about the climate difference between his home in Cumbria and South America.
"It was a pretty hot one in Seoul and Switzerland was hot this year so racing in Rio doesn't bother me. The temperatures they're expecting shouldn't go too far over 30 degrees so I'm not worried.”
