Peacock 'ready to fight' for third Paralympic gold

Jonnie Peacock says he will be "ready to fight" as he targets a third Paralympic gold medal at Paris 2024.

The 31-year-old Briton won gold at London 2012 and Rio 2016 but had to settle for joint bronze in the T64 100m final in Tokyo three years ago.

More recently, Peacock has been affected by injures and issues with his technique, and finished fifth in last year's World Championships.

However, he says he is "running better than I have run for the last four years".

Asked what his goal was in Paris, he told BBC Sport's Sally Hurst: "It's a very shiny medal. When you've won a gold medal, silver medals aren't that fun. They are always a disappointment.

"I feel like I can fight again. That's something that's really important for me. The last few years I've been off balance, right on the ragged edge of my technique where that if I have to push a little bit more, I lose it. Not any more."

The Games get under way with the opening ceremony on Wednesday in Paris with the T64 100m final on Monday at the Stade de France.

'The more pressure, the faster I run'

Peacock became one of the stories of the London 2012 Paralympics, winning the T44 100m gold while still a teenager shortly after setting a world record of 10.85 seconds.

A second Paralympic title, two world titles and two European titles followed by 2017 but golds have since proved elusive during what he describes as a "torrid" period.

Referencing the Tokyo Games in 2021, he added: "I'm still annoyed from three years ago. I get an opportunity to rectify that mistake. I will be going in there, going to war, and I'll be ready to fight and hopefully all my competitors are ready because there is going to be a battle.

"This is my fourth time and it's also my fourth time contesting. Every other athlete in that field, it's only going to be their second time. I also have experience with 80,000 people going mad.

"Whether they will be going quite as mad for me remains to be seen, but I am super excited for that and I am really looking forward to get into that stadium and feeling what it's like.

"The pressure for me is part of my toolkit. The more pressure you give me, the faster I run. I know that not all of my competitors can say that."

Peacock is impressed by the level of promotion he is seeing for the Paralympics while travelling around Paris and says that it "feels like it's back to normal again" after financial problems affected Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 took place without fans because of Covid-19.

"Driving around and seeing Paralympians on posters, it's really cool. It feels like London again in that sense," he said.

"Ticket sales sound good, hopefully we're going to see sell-out stadiums and lots of noise."

The Briton has already considered his career beyond Paris and fully intends to be competing at a fifth Paralympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

"I'll still be here, you're not getting rid of me yet," he said. "This year is actually the first year I've felt good for a while.

"I won't be leaving just yet, there is a lot more in my body. I feel like we're only just getting back to where we left off so you'll see me in LA, touch wood."