Rio Paralympics 2016: Jonnie Peacock warns speed rivals he will not give up his crown without a fight
Brit sprinter is in defiant mood ahead of T44 100m final — one of the most hotly-anticipated events of Games
JONNIE PEACOCK has warned his Paralympic speed rivals: I won’t give up my crown without a fight.
Sprinter Peacock is in defiant mood ahead of the T44 100m final — one of the most hotly-anticipated events of the Rio Games.
The 23-year-old amputee has struggled with injury and form over the past 18 months, even missing the World Championships in Doha last October.
He had problems with the connection between his right leg stump and the carbon fibre blade, causing him to adapt his technique.
This year American Jarryd Wallace has emerged as the leading contender and starts the Games as favourite to win gold.
But London 2012 champion Peacock, who set the year’s best time of 10.68sec two months ago, is ready to strut his stuff again on the biggest stage.
He said: “How determined am I to retain the Paralympic title? I’m pretty determined, don’t worry about that!
“I mentally made a big change towards the end of last year in the way I approach races.
“I know what I need to do now. I lost my way for a bit, to be honest. I found it again. I know what needs to be done.”
He added: “This is a Paralympic year and you know me, I’ll always come out in the big championships.”
The T44 100m heats start tonight, with the final taking place at 11.53pm tomorrow evening.
In the past the T44 class was all about headline act Oscar Pistorius — but the South African Blade Runner is currently in jail for shooting his girlfriend.
In Pistorius’ absence, the event has not suffered at all. In fact, the strength-in-depth of the field has grown considerably over the past four years.
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As well as Wallace and Peacock, German Felix Streng is a contender, along with South African Amu Fourie and American Jerome Singleton.
There will be Brazilian interest in pin-up Alan Fonteles Oliveira, the T44 200m champion.
Peacock, 23, reckons the intense competition on the start line will only push everyone on.
He explained: “The race in Rio could be the fastest race in Paralympic history. Maybe six finalists could go under 11 seconds.
“There were two people sub-11sec in 2012 and now there’s at least six in the past year.
“It’s important to have cool rivalries in your sport. I love racing against my competitors, it’s fun. We all talk the talk. But it brings out the best in me. We get to push each other on.
“I relish any challenge. There are rivalries everywhere, whether it is Real Madrid v Barcelona, Liverpool v Man Utd — there is always a rivalry.
“You want to run against the best guys in the field. You want to know you are the best athlete on the day.
“That is what the Olympics and Paralympics are about — being the best on the day, beating the best.
“Every single person in that field wouldn’t say no to a gold medal.
“Jarryd has run consistently fast times this year. He’s the one to beat in my eyes. All this year my thoughts have been, ‘I have to see what I can do to get past Jarryd’.”
Peacock set a Paralympic record of 10.90 when he won at London 2012.
He even had the audacity to hush the passionate 80,000 Olympic stadium crowd with his finger as they chanted his name.
He said: “I’ve only watched the tape of the London final a couple of times. My mum probably sees it every night!
“I watch it occasionally for technique but it’s something that when I’ve finished in the sport I’ll sit down with a beer and reflect on. For now, there are more titles to get.”