PARALYMPIC champion Jonnie Peacock says the crowd numbers at the Rio Games are not a concern to him as he targets making a successful defence of his T44 100m title.
The 23-year-old made his Paralympic debut in London in unique circumstances, blasting his way to gold in front of a packed home crowd in the Olympic Stadium and creating one of the iconic images of the Games.
Four years on and the buildup to the Rio Games has been overshadowed by poor ticket sales, though the organisers confirmed on Sunday September 4 that more than 1.5 million tickets had now been sold. Peacock said the level of interest will make no difference to what he’s in Rio to achieve. “I don’t care if there are 100,000 people in the stands and packed to the rafters or two people in the stands... I need to execute a clean race and I know I’m capable of it. Whatever happens will happen. The outcome will be the outcome,” he said.