After superbly clinching the T54 800 metres, 1,500m, 5,000m and marathon titles to take his total gold medal tally to six, the "Weir-Wolf" took a year out of the sport to rekindle his love and desire to race, and to win.

In his absence, Hug dominated the 2013 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France, taking five gold and one silver medal from his six events.

The pair have endured split fortunes during the road racing season already in 2014, with Weir taking first blood by winning January's Oz Day 10 kilometres in Sydney, before the Swiss "Silver Bullet" hit back by winning March's Lisbon Half Marathon and then the London Marathon in April.

There is not long to wait until they resume their rivalry on the track, with the pair set to clash over 800m, 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m at the IPC Athletics Grand Prix in Nottwil, Switzerland from May 16 to 18, where around 270 athletes from 40 countries will compete in up to 100 disciplines.

"Marcel races really well, but at the end of the day I've raced him a few times, he's beaten me, I've beaten him, he beat me in Lisbon, so we are battling again," explained 34-year-old Weir.

"I don't think I have a point to prove against him though, I think I proved a point in London, and any other Championship I've been to I've proved a point that I'm still good at championship racing.

"It just depends if he can do it on the day, and he's capable of doing anything on the day so he's definitely the one to watch this year."

David Weir is looking forward to renewing a rivalry with Swiss star Marcel Hug
©AFP/Getty Images



In the absence of an IPC World Championships Weir's biggest aim for 2014 will be the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where he should compete over 100m and 1,500m.

But the 34-year-old believes his break from the sport since 2012 gave him much needed time to recover and will help him throughout the rest of his career.

"Mentally I was drained last year, I just needed time to myself and with my family, and to spend some more time at home," he said.

"I did a few road races but it was quite difficult to get motivated.

"I knew that would happen and it wasn't a shock really, I didn't want to push myself in training because the years leading up to London I pushed myself in every training session, and physically and mentally I was drained.

"The break made me get my hunger back, I always had a date that I would go back to full training and make sure I was fit for 2014, 2015 and even up to Rio 2016."

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