Menje misses 5000 m medal – Debrunner wins gold

The wheelchair user has nothing to do with the top spots. The 20-year-old is accordingly disappointed.

Wheelchair racing athlete Merle Menje missed out on a Paralympics medal in the 5000 m. The World Championship runner-up came seventh in the final of the T54 starting class on Saturday morning in 11:49.97 minutes, and the 20-year-old was almost 40 seconds short of bronze. Gold went to Catherine Debrunner from Switzerland in the Paris Stade de France in a Paralympic record time of 10:43.62 minutes.

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“It hurts that you couldn’t have a say at all at the front. That was definitely not the plan. I would have liked to have caught up with the front,” said Menje, who is still competing in the 800 m, 1500 m and marathon in Paris. Menje came second at the World Championships in Kobe, Japan in May. However, the top five athletes from the Paris Summer Games were not competing there.