But it is clear from Weir’s tone that he expects the main struggle to be between himself and the Australian whose participation in this year’s race was in doubt until a last-minute flight was arranged for him by Qantas Airlines.

It would be nice to think that, whoever wins, both men would meet up after the race for a beer and a chat. Realistically, however, that is unlikely happen. Since the Beijing Paralympics, the pair are barely on speaking terms...

As one of the athletes at the Docklands Museum to help launch the National Lottery’s new quiz project, Games Brain of Britain, the Paralympic 800 and 1500 metres champion spoke amiably about the growing profile of wheelchair racing and the heady experience of competing in front of crowds in excess of 90,000 in Beijing.

But once the inevitable subject of Fearnley came up, you could hear the tone of Weir’s voice harden.

Their inharmonious relationship stems from an incident following the 2008 Paralympic 800m final, when Weir’s victory was challenged by a protest from the Australian, who had finished in silver medal position.

"For the 800 you get your lane draw the night before or on the day before, depending on when the race is," Weir said. "All the team coaches get the lane draw, and then the athletes obviously prepare for that lane.

"For the final, Kurt was originally in lane six or seven. But then when they made the first call before the  race they said he was in lane two. He didn’t say anything."

"Lanes two and three are best for wheelchair athletes, because of the compensator we have to change. In the 800, because we are all staggered, you set your compensator for lane one because we are all breaking. So if you are in the outside lane you’ve got to fight the chair because the chair is trying to go into lane one.

"So Kurt knows that lane two is spot on - he can sprint off and get the best position, and, he hasn’t got to mess about with his compensator.

"So then we had final call, and they gave him his lane draw, and he said to me, ‘What lane am I in?’ And I said, ‘Lane two.’ And he said: ‘Oh that’s good, better than lane six isn’t it?’ And I said: “Yeah, it’s good isn’t it?’

"I had the fastest qualifying time and I was in lane three. I don’t mind lane one because you can get to the front and stay there, but lanes two and three are probably the best for wheelchair athletes.

"And then obviously because Kurt’s race didn’t go to plan, he put a protest in. And his team put a protest in.

"But before that we were on the track for 10 minutes when they were doing the medal ceremony and he still didn’t make any complaints.

"The protest was that he was mentally preparing for lane six. I was furious because he knew what he was doing. He knew that if he didn’t get his race right he could put a protest in, instead of being sporting because he knew he had the best lane anyway. Because that lane should have been someone else’s. But the person who was in lane six instead of lane two didn’t put a protest in. They just carried on."

So, you wonder, has this little local difficulty been discussed by the pair since?

"Not really," Weir said with only the faintest suggestion of a grin. "It was quite bitter after. Because it was definitely going on, we were going to do a re-run and I wasn’t at all happy because I’d done enough racing without having to prepare mentally and physically for another final.

"I said I was going home. I said: ‘I’ve not come here to battle with protests. I’ve won this race fair and square,  If they don’t want to give me my gold medal I’d rather go home.

"And then I slept on it and the next day the Australians and Kurt wrote a letter apologising. But not really apologising too much.

"Kurt should have owned up to it. He said he don’t want to take away my gold medal, I was a good athlete and stuff, but I wish he’d said that at the beginning and just got on with it, because if that was me I would have got on with it because I would have known I was in a great position which I hadn’t take advantage of.

"And we still don’t talk really. We do - but it’s always there in the background.”

OK. So not big mates, then. And Weir’s take on Fearnley’s negotiating the redoubtable Kokoda trail through Borneo, a feat he achieved for charity last year by crawling and hauling himself over the harshest of territories to raise money for charity, is hardly likely to warm the relationship.

"I think that’s more of a publicity thing," Weir said. "He didn’t get a lot of work speaking and stuff, but now he gets a lot of work. I know he did it for charity, but. I don’t know how much money he made, I don’t know what cause it was for, but I know he’s now got a lot of speaking jobs..."

Weir is confident he will perform better this year than he did last. "I’m a lot fitter than last year, when I had five months out,” he said.

"After Beijing I didn’t do any training at all or go to gym. Mentally and physically I needed time out. I only had about six weeks to prepare before the 2009 race, and I only made a decision the week before to take part because I had managed to cover the mileage even though I didn’t do any speedwork.

"So last year was pretty good for me to finish as I did. I’m surprised I didn’t die of a heart attack."



Weir believes he is now in "very good shape", with his confidence soaring after sorting out a problem with the new wheelchair he had built after Christmas. "It  just didn’t feel right up until a week ago, to tell you the truth," he said. "So I’ve been altering it, making it higher, and now I seem to have got it spot on so my training in the last two week has come on in leaps in bounds. I always had my basic mileage there but I’ve just been missing speed and hill climbs because of the position of the seat.

"I’ve got Josh Cassidy over from Canada, and he’s been my training partner for a couple of weeks. You know where you are when you’ve got someone who is just as good as you so you know when you need to up your game. Since he’s been over I seem to have got quicker and quicker."

What will also tell in Weir’s favour, he believes, is his experience of racing on the London course where he has already won three times.

"It’s a tough course, and how you do depends on weather, depends on what break you get. You can’t just have one race plan. But I know the course very well  I’ve’ done it for 10 years.

"Last year me and Ernst made a break on Shooters Hill but because I wasn’t fit enough I  couldn’t help him to make the gap even greater. So I know what point I need to go at again this year, and if someone’s with me then they’re with me, but if they’re not, well..."

The winner on Sunday. Well - Weir maintains it could be one of five or six racers. But Fearnley, he acknowledges, is the main threat - "And," he added, "I think I’m the only man to have beaten him in the last four years."

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, has covered the last five Summer and four Winter Olympics for The Independent. Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. He is now chief feature writer for insidethegames