Champion Weir hails Bird's Nest

David Weir won the 5,000m wheelchair race at the Good Luck Beijing 2008 China Athletics Open on Saturday.

Weir was the first Briton to compete in the Bird's Nest stadium, which is being tested ahead of the Olympics and Paralympics later this year.

"The crowd was great, not capacity as the top tier is not yet open, but there was a brilliant atmosphere," said Weir, who clocked 11 minutes and 16 seconds.

Blind sprinter Tracey Hinton won the 200m in a year's best 26.82 on Sunday.

The 28-year-old Weir is back to fitness after missing much of last season with glandular fever and marked his return with gold medals in the 400 and 1500m at the recent Paralympic World Cup in Manchester.

He added: "It was a really valuable experience for me to compete here and now I'm even more excited about competing in the Paralympics.

"It was hot on the track, the pollution has been quite strong over the seven days I've been here, but it didn't affect me. I'm sure there will be some fast times recorded on the track, it looks good."

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"The stadium itself is magnificent. When it was being constructed I wasn't sure whether it would be an ugly building"
BBC Sport's Steve Cram on the Bird's Nest

The four-day event, which began on Thursday, saw 932 athletes competing in 42 Olympic and four Paralympic events in what was the last test event to be held in the stadium before the Olympics and Paralympics.

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