Paralympics 2024: Catherine Debrunner – Wheelchair athlete on a medal spree

Catherine Debrunner from Switzerland has won three gold medals at the Paralympics in Paris – and there could be more medals to come. Her success is also the result of a decision Debrunner made three years ago.

For 21 years Catherine Debrunner Wheelchair racing, however, was only really a big success three years ago. At the Paralympics in Tokyo, the now 29-year-old won gold and bronze – successes that led her to make a decisive change in her life. Today, she would hardly be satisfied with a result like in Tokyo.

Debrunner quits teaching job and becomes the best in a wheelchair

Until three years ago, Debrunner still works part-time as a primary school teacher. “But the Paralympics in Tokyo changed everything. After the gold medal in the 400 meters and bronze in the 800 meters, I decided in spring 2022 to put everything into sport”said the Swiss athlete. A year later, she won four gold medals and one silver medal at the Para World Championships, and she holds the world records for 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1500 metres. The focus on sport has clearly paid off.

This has led to Debrunner being on the verge of becoming the most successful athlete in Paris. She has already won gold three times (800, 1500 and 5000 meters), and on Wednesday (September 4, 2024) she added silver in the 100 meters. If she now wins gold in the 400 meters and in the marathon, she will be even more successful than Ihar Boky (NPA), who swam to victory five times.

The “Tagesanzeiger” from Switzerland called it the “Poster girl of Swiss parasports”she also won the Laureus Award as the best Para-athlete last year. There she stood on stage alongside other superstar title holders such as Lionel Messi (Football/Sportsman of the Year), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Athletics/Sportswoman of the Year), Carlos Alcaraz (Tennis/Breakthrough of the Year) and Christian Eriksen (Football/Comeback of the Year).

New York was their high point

Since becoming a full-time professional, Debrunner has experienced and won so much. But there is one event that stands out for her, as she confessed to the portal “Die Ostschweiz”: “The 2023 New York Marathon. That was the first time I ran what is probably the most demanding marathon. Winning it with a course record and thus becoming the overall winner of the marathon series for the first time was a very special moment.”

With all the sporting highlights that Debrunner has experienced and perhaps will experience in Paris, there is one wish that will probably never come true: “I would love to know what it would be like to be able to run for a day”she told the Swiss newspaper “Tagblatt” before the Paralympics in Tokyo. Debrunner has been paraplegic since birth due to a tumor on her spine.