David Weir may be about to start his fifth Paralympics, but he still gets the “buzz” from wearing his ParalympicGB vest.

The 37-year-old T54 wheelchair athlete, who was born in Wallington and trains at Kingsmeadow in Kingston, is in Rio to defend three titles (800m, 1,500m and marathon) won at London 2012.

Weir first competed on the Paralympic stage at Atlanta in 1996, but it was not until Athens in 2004 that he won the first of the 10 medals he owns – four of which were gold in colour and won in London.

“Rio 2016 will be my fifth Paralympic Games, but I still get really excited every time, I get that same buzz every time I pull on a ParalympicsGB vest,” he said.

“That’s no different from 20 years ago when I first represented ParalympicsGB in Atlanta, I just want to go out there and perform at my best ability, and try to win medals for my country.

“Since I first competed at the Games, wheelchair racing has changed a lot. The technology has improved a lot and people are getting faster and faster, we can hit crazy speeds on the track.

“A lot of nations are now competing professionally with world-class athletes, so the sport really has moved forward very quickly in just 20 years.”

He added: “London 2012 was so good that I think it destroyed every other Paralympic Games in the past. I think a lot of people came along to see disability sport, but then when they came along, they realised they were watching fantastic sport that totally blew them away.

“It was a massive event for this country and I think it changed people’s minds on how hard we train and how much we want to be the very best in our sport.

“We are the same as Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis-Hill, and everyone else, we train at the same level and I think people realise that now, thanks to London 2012.”

Weir knows he and his ParalympicGB team-mates have a hard act to follow after Team GB’s successes last month.

He said: “Watching all the phenomenal success at the Olympics has really whet my appetite.

“I just went crazy – every time I came home from training, I was watching all the repeats and watching them all do so well, it just blew me away. Now it’s our turn.”

Weir’s Olympics starts on Sunday in the 400m heats, with the 1,500m heats on Monday, the 800m heats on Wednesday and the marathon on September 18.

Nissan Ancaster are proud to support David Weir on his road to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. To find out more about Nissan’s partnership with ParalympicsGB, visit nissan.co.uk/uniteandexcite