Cumbrian medal hope Simon Lawson will take to the road this weekend for the men’s marathon in Rio.

Wheelchair racer Lawson from Maryport will compete alongside multiple Paralympic gold medallist David Weir in the T54 marathon tomorrow (4.30pm approx) at the Paralympic Games.

Weir, 37, was the star of the London 2012 Paralympics.

But he has struggled to replicate the same kind of form in Brazil this Games and has announced he will retire from the track after Rio 2016.

Weir is someone Lawson gets on well with.

He said: “Obviously, we are racing against each other and travelling to the same places and things like that.

“He is helpful, as well. He will give me tips and stuff like that.

“It is nice to have somebody there, as well, to help.

“He is a household name now after London. He is a nice friend to have.”

The Cumbrian will be looking to follow the example set by Newcastleton sprinter Libby Clegg in the past week.

She won a second gold alongside her guide Chris Clarke on Tuesday night as she won in the 200 metres T11 category final in a Paralympic record time of 24.51 seconds.

Clegg also won the 100 metres final.

But her route to that gold certainly wasn’t straightforward.

Clegg thought she had smashed the world record as she won her 100m T11 semi-final.

She produced a lifetime best of 11.91 with her guide, Clarke, to run under 12 seconds for the first time in her career.

But Clegg was then disqualified.

Guide Clarke was understood to have infringed the rules by pulling her in the middle of the race.

The British team then launched an appeal, which was successful.

After all the drama, Clegg did, indeed, compete in the final.

And, with a time of 11.96 seconds, she improved on the silvers she won in the T12 class at Beijing 2008 and London 2012 with her third Paralympic medal but, what was then, her first gold from that final.

A 100 metres Commonwealth champion in Glasgow in 2014, Clegg was reclassified as a T11 athlete earlier this year.

She now has two golds to go with her two Paralympic silver medals.

Meanwhile, Lawson from Maryport was involved in a motorbike accident, which left paralysed from the chest down after he sustained serious injuries in a crash while practising in July 2001.

But he didn’t turn to athletics until 2010.

Lawson is coached by Ian Thompson, who trained and is married to, legendary Paralympic athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson.