Weir is Britain's first athletics champion of Paralympic Games after appeal U-turn

Weir had thought he had wheeled glory on Saturday to end a 12-year wait for a Paralympic title, but was initially denied when Australia's Kurt Fearnley was successful in a protest over a lanes mix-up.

However, the 29-year-old from Wallington, Surrey, has now delivered Britain's
first athletics gold of the Games and the 38th in all.

David Weir crosses the line first in the Men's 800m -T54 in the Birds Nest

A delighted Weir said: ''I am very happy and relieved and would like to thank everyone who has helped to overturn the decision to re-run the race.

'It has been a very difficult 12 hours but I now have the gold medal that I have worked so hard for and can focus on my remaining two events.'

A statement issued by the Jury of Appeal said: "Concerning the matter of the Men's 800m T54 Final on 13th September 2008:

'After the Jury of Appeal reconsidered their decision of September 13 under IAAF Rule 119, the race will not now take place as it had been arranged for the 16th September at 0910.

'The original race result will be reissued and the medals awarded on September 14 at 2110.'

Weir, who won silver in the 400m and 5,000m bronze, made his Paralympic debut aged 17 in Atlanta but took a break from the sport and missed the Sydney Games
before returning in Greece.

The world champion at 100m, 400m and 1,500m, Weir has entered five races in Beijing and was expected to be British athletics' leading man despite having a gruelling 14-race programme.

On Saturday, Weir led from the start to cross the line first in one minute 36.61 seconds, triumphing at the third time of asking - in his third event, at his third Games.

But he was made to wait to take his place on the top spot of the podium - a moment that will now take place after the 1,500m first round on day eight of the Games.

Weir's tactics worked to perfection as he pipped Fearnley and Thailand's Prawat
Wahoram, the 5,000m champion.

The Australian challenged the result - upset at being blocked by China's Cui Yanfeng - and the protest against an incorrectly assigned lane draw was successful.

However, the decision was reconsidered, earning Britain and Weir the athletics gold which had proved elusive so far.

It was yet another bizarre turn in events involving a British wheelchair athlete following mistakes by officials.

John McFall won a bronze medal for Britain in the Men's 100M -T42 on Sunday

Shelly Woods came second in the women's T54 5,000m on Monday, the first day of
athletics competition, but had to return her medal after the International Paralympic Committee ordered a re-run following a crash metres before the last-lap bell which saw more than half the field strewn across four lanes of the Bird's Nest Stadium track.

But on day six of the Games, the 2007 London Marathon champion from Blackpool kept a steady head in a tactical race to end the week where she had begun it - on the podium - after winning bronze in the re-run final.

Weir, who won 100m silver and 200m bronze in Athens, like Woods, thought he would have to go for glory all over again.

Elsewhere in the Birds Nest sprinter John McFall won bronze in the men's T42 100m behind Canada's Earle Connor, who set a Paralympic record of 12.32secs.

The 27-year-old from Cardiff, who won world championship silver in 2006, had his right leg amputated above the knee following a motorbike accident while on a gap year in Thailand in 2000.

McFall, who finished in 13.08, said: 'I set myself the goal of getting a medal over a year out from the Games and I've come away and I've done that. I'm fantastically happy.'