Athlete · Speaker · Brand Ambassador

David
van Wetherill

winners find a way. all, ways.

British Paralympian, endurance athlete and adaptive mountaineer who climbs on crutches. Three Paralympic Games. Two European team titles. A Guinness World Record marathon. Explore the high-altitude mountaineering record — and the Crutch IRONMAN journey.

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3× Paralympian
Beijing · London · Rio

2× European Champion
world #2 · Worlds medallist

5:59:05 Guinness World Record
fastest marathon on crutches

3rd HYROX World Championships
2025

The story

Disability doesn't define you.
Your perception does.

David Wetherill, also known as David van Wetherill, is a British Paralympian, endurance athlete and adaptive high-altitude mountaineer who climbs on crutches.

David was born in Cornwall with multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, a rare bone-development disorder, and Tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart defect that meant open-heart surgery as a baby. He has walked on crutches since he was ten.

Table tennis became his outlet — and then his craft. He climbed to world number two, became a two-time European Champion and World Championship medallist, served as an Olympic training partner and represented ParalympicsGB at three Paralympic Games. At London 2012 his iconic “diving winner” stopped the arena and went viral around the world.

In 2021, hip problems forced him to retire at his peak. "It wasn't the pain or the hospital visits that broke me – it was losing my purpose."

So he found a new one. After a hip replacement, rehab turned into running, running turned into a Guinness World Record at the London Marathon — and that opened the door to HYROX, IRONMAN, ultramarathons, skyrunning and CrossFit. In 2025 he finished third at the HYROX World Championships; in 2026 he was named HYROX Athlete of the Year. Every step on two crutches.

David diving full-stretch to return a shot at the London 2012 Paralympic Games — London 2012 — the "wonder shot", voted one of the greatest moments in Paralympic history.

“Fitness gives pain a purpose.”
— David van Wetherill

Amor Fati Love your fate — every part of it. The hand you're dealt is the material you build with.
Memento Mori Time is finite. That's not a threat — it's the reason to start today.
no, one. No one in the world can do what you can do. It's not proving what you can do. It's proving what can be done. No one can do it alone.

Milestones

From the table
to the mountain.

1989

Born to fight

Born in Torpoint, Cornwall, with multiple epiphyseal dysplasia and Tetralogy of Fallot. Open-heart surgery as a baby; crutches from age ten.
2005

International debut

Makes his international para table tennis debut for Great Britain.
2008 – 2016

Three Paralympic Games

Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016 with ParalympicsGB. His London 2012 diving winner becomes one of the most-watched moments of the Games.
2015 – 2019

Two-time European Champion & world #2

European medals in singles and team events, World Championship medals, and European gold in 2019 — one month after heart surgery. Rises to world number two and trains alongside Olympians.
2019

TEDxTruro

Delivers “Pushing Your Limits – How Being Disabled Can Be a Blessing”.
2021

Forced to retire

Hip problems end his table tennis career at its peak. The hardest chapter — and the start of the next one.
2024 – 2025

World record on crutches

After a hip replacement, runs 5:44:05 in Barcelona (unofficial), then makes it official at the 2025 London Marathon: 5:59:05 — Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon on crutches (male).
2025 – 2026

Hybrid fitness, adaptive athlete

Ten HYROX races in his first year, then 3rd at the 2025 HYROX World Championships. In 2026, named HYROX Athlete of the Year on the World Championships stage.
2026

Crutch IRONMAN

IRONMAN 70.3 Bolton in 7:57:06 — “pure anything is possible” — on the road to the full-distance IRONMAN, alongside ultramarathons and skyrunning on crutches.
Mountains

Mountaineering on crutches

Summited Mount Toubkal (4,167 m) and Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) on crutches. Reached approximately 6,000 m on Manaslu (8,163 m) on crutches; did not summit Manaslu. Read David’s first-party expedition record.

David racing the London Marathon on crutches — London Marathon · GWR

David on the IRONMAN 70.3 Bolton finish chute surrounded by cheering crowds — IRONMAN 70.3 Bolton

Close-up of David's crutches and raised shoe during a HYROX race — HYROX

Arena screen reading David Wetherill, Inspirational Athlete of the Year — HYROX Athlete of the Year 2026

Mountaineering on crutches

The Human
Crutch Diaries.

Toubkal. Kilimanjaro. Approximately 6,000 m on Manaslu.

David summited Mount Toubkal (4,167 m) and Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) on crutches. On Manaslu, an 8,163 m mountain, he reached approximately 6,000 m on crutches. He did not summit Manaslu.

These achievements are David’s own expedition record, shared through his Instagram documentation.

A cinematic, chapter-by-chapter series following David from the London streets to the high Himalayas — finding courage, finding belief, with his expedition team. Real footage, real altitude, real doubt, and the stubborn belief that winners find a way.

Explore the mountaineering record

Follow the diaries on Instagram

David climbing through snow on crutches with an expedition teammate

alive

David on crutches beside tents in the snow

p.2 — finding belief

Keynote speaking

Stories that
move rooms.

From the TEDx stage to the Defence sector, Government and the Cabinet Office, corporate offsites, schools and sporting events, David speaks with the honesty of someone who has lived every word — on adversity, motivation, performance psychology and mental fitness.

Winners Find a Way

Resilience without clichés. How to keep moving when the obvious path disappears — and why setbacks can shape a stronger athlete, leader or team.

Performance Psychology & Mental Fitness

The mental preparation behind world-record marathons and IRONMAN racing: pain management, focus, and training the mind like a muscle.

Stoicism in Practice

Amor Fati and Memento Mori as everyday tools. “It's not the thing that hurts you – it's your judgment of the thing.”

Losing & Rebuilding Purpose

Retiring from elite sport at his peak, the identity crisis that followed, and how purpose can be rebuilt — a message for anyone facing change.

Disability & Perception

Why being disabled can be a blessing. How perception — not circumstance — sets the limits we live within.

Adaptive & Hybrid Fitness

Inclusion in HYROX and endurance sport, adaptive training, and what brands, gyms and events can do to open the start line to everyone.

KeynotesPanels & fireside chatsWorkshopsCorporate wellbeingSchools & charitiesPodcastsEvent hosting

Has spoken & presented for

TEDx
Defence sector
UK Government
Cabinet Office
BBC Sport
Sky Sports

Enquire about speaking

Brand partnerships

Built with brands
that move.

David collaborates with leading global brands — predominantly in the hybrid fitness space — creating authentic, story-led campaigns that audiences actually feel — while promoting inclusion, accessibility and disability awareness through challenges, charities and sports foundations.