Johnboy Smith wins Men’s T53/54 Marathon gold

• Smith won the gold medal for England on day 2.
• He defeated Weir.
• Frame knew Lawson would pass him on the last stretch, but he stayed calm to finish 10 seconds ahead.

Johnboy Smith of England capitalised on David Weir’s untimely flat tyre to win the Birmingham 2022 Men’s T53/54 Marathon.

Weir was leading by more than a minute with less than six miles remaining in the race, but a puncture destroyed his medal aspirations. Smith eventually crossed the finish line four minutes and 34 seconds ahead of Weir in timing of one hour 41 minutes and 15.15 seconds.

Silver was won by Sean Frame of Scotland, who produced his finest performance of the season to hold off a late threat from Simon Lawson.

Weir, who won gold in the event at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, ultimately finished sixth, roughly 24 minutes behind Smith.

Johnboy Smith, who won the silver medal on the Gold Coast, conceded that he won with a touch of good fortune, but he believed he would have still been in the race if Weir hadn’t gotten a flat.

“That’s one step up. It’s a surreal moment, hard to take in. It was a tough, difficult course, almost impossible. But I’ve trained so hard for this, for 16 months solid.

“David dropped me at mile five but he was in my sights all the way. He was something like 30-40 seconds in front but I was chasing him down.

“If he hadn’t have got that flat I don’t know what would have happened. But I could have closed the gap. It would have been a sprint finish. I won by good circumstances.

“Do not write off David Weir. He is not an old man, he is a supreme athlete.

“If Her Majesty the Queen is watching or listening, give him a knighthood. He deserves to be Sir David Weir.

“I come from a working-class background, there’s no airs or graces to me, so all I am going to say is if you have a dream and you put your heart and soul into it, don’t let the critics get you down.

“You can achieve the impossible. Whatever creed, race or colour you are.

“If I have inspired one person or a million people today I feel like I have done my job.”

Weir was left to ponder what may have been and his lack of a spare tyre.

“I’m feeling despair and I’ve never felt despair in a race before. By coincidence, I was talking with my wife the other day and I said that if I had a big lead I could even afford to change a tyre. In the end I decided not to carry a spare… I should have gone with my gut instinct. [Before I punctured] I was flying.

“Where I’ve come from, on a council estate, I don’t give up.”

Frame was aware of Lawson’s approach on the last stretch, and although the Englishman briefly passed him, he maintained his composure to finish 10 seconds ahead.

Frame said: “For the first half of the race, I was out on my own for a lot of it but I could sense Simon coming back to me and it was really tough over the final kilometres, especially the final 400m which were uphill.”

He was delighted with the silver and added: “It was only when I went past David Weir that I saw that he had punctured. I wasn’t getting any messages back but I knew [gold medallist] Johnboy Smith was well away after that. And I just kept pushing and I’m just very pleased with getting the silver.”

Madison de Rozario of Australia successfully defended her Women’s event title with a Games Record timing of 1:56.00.

De Rozario finished 3:45 ahead of England’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper, who earned the silver medal with a personal-best timing of 1:59:45.