Whether it’s the middle-distance and long-distance tracks or the tarmac of marathons, Marcel Hug’s opponents generally don’t have time to see the colour of his racing car. But at the Paris Games, the man nicknamed the “Silver Bullet” (referring to the colour of his chair) lives up to his name. He was beaten, to everyone’s surprise, in his first two events: the 5,000 m by the American Daniel Romanchuk and the 1,500 m by the Chinese Hua Jin.
The 38-year-old from Thurgau, born with spina bifida – a malformation linked to a defect in the formation of the vertebral arches – still has six Paralympic titles, the first of which came in 2016. He hopes to unlock his counter in this edition, Thursday, September 5, in the 800 m, and, who knows, to double the stakes in the marathon, which he is competing in the T54 category (wheelchair athletes who have full use of the body with moderate or severe limitation of leg movement, or the absence of limbs), two days later. In Tokyo, in 2021, Marcel Hug had achieved a quadruple.
“In a wheelchair, it is possible to compete over different distances in a short time. Our muscles are not used in the same way. The movements are a bit like those of Nordic skiing.”explains the man who also has twenty-four marathon successes to his name, between 2011 and 2024, notably on the prestigious courses of Berlin, London, Chicago, New York and Boston.
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“It’s working very well for me at the moment, he slipped, prophetically, Mondeearly July. But you never know what can happen. A lot of positive parameters are needed to win. Every victory is special, and even more so at the Games, which are the most important competition for us.”
Technological advancement
Since 2021, Marcel Hug has been riding in a 100% carbon chair, designed in collaboration with technicians from the Swiss Formula 1 team, Sauber. “I had the opportunity to give them my opinion and provide feedback, he says. I tried it throughout the process to improve it. It’s a great experience to work with such engineers, who treated me like a professional athlete.”
The gap with older racing chair models is huge. “The result is incredible. It is more aerodynamic and there is less energy loss.”explains the athlete. The top speed that the machine can reach – propelled by arm power – is impressive: 38 km/h on the track. “It’s the same device, only the tires change.” Marcel Hug is also the holder of the world record for the wheelchair marathon: 1 h 17 min 47, a mark set on November 21, 2021 in Oita (Japan).
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