Champion Australian wheelchair racer Kurt Fearnley predicts he'll need to go through a lot of pain in the next five months if he's to reel in Swiss star Marcel Hug at the Paralympics.
Hug claimed back-to-back marathon wins inside six days with victory in the London Marathon on Sunday, once again pipping the 35-year-old Fearnley in a strong sprint finish as he did in the Boston Marathon last week.
Fearnley's time of 1:35.25 was one second behind Hug, earning him a second-placed finish to go with his third place from Boston, while England's six-time winner David Weir was a further second back in third.
It is the first time in four years that a wheelchair athlete has won two races in a 12-month period, and highlights Hug's favouritism ahead of the Rio Games in September.
"In a Paralympic year it's a bit of a kick in the bum to know we've got to lift that little bit further," Fearnley told AAP.
"But I'm right there. I just need that last little bit of top-end speed.
"The strength is great. I just need that last little kick."
Fearnley kept pace with Hug across the 42.195km course, and noted that the difference between his main rival for Paralympic gold and the rest of the elite men is tiny - but significant all the same.
"It's not even one per cent, it's a tiny little bit of difference between Marcel now and everyone else," he said.
"You don't train to win a marathon by a mile, you train to be that person in the last metre."
When asked what it would take to eliminate that one-second gap in time for Rio, Fearnley was blunt.
"Pain," he said.
"I've just got to get through a lot more discomfort so I can get a little bit faster at the end.
"There's a lot of uncomfortable hours to come between now and Rio.
"If I don't win another race all year but I finish first in Rio then the year will have been a major success."
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