Catherine Debrunner wins gold again

Catherine Debrunner wins gold again at the Paralympics.Bild: keystone

The athletics queen of the Paralympics in Paris ensures a golden finish. Catherine Debrunner also lives up to her role as favorite in the marathon.

Catherine Debrunner – who else? After gold on the track over 5000 m, 1500 m, 800 m and 400 m (and silver over 100 m), the 29-year-old from Eastern Switzerland was also unbeatable in her Paralympic debut over the historic distance.

The dominant runner made things clear early, very early. In the first few meters, she set a pace that her competitors could not keep up with. She quickly pulled away and rode a lonely race at the front. She completed the first half of the marathon two minutes faster than the next best, and reached the finish line almost four and a half minutes ahead of the Australian Madison de Rozario, the marathon and 800 m winner in Tokyo three years ago.

For Catherine Debrunner, the marathon was not only a triumphant ride, but also a borderline experience, “which I have never experienced before. It was a great struggle on a difficult course. The sections with the cobblestones were particularly questionable for us wheelchair users. I don’t know where I got all this energy from.”

Things didn’t go quite as planned for Manuel Schär. Nothing came of his third medal at these Paralympics after gold in the 800 m and silver in the 400 m. The Lucerne athlete, who also started as a contender for a podium place, finished fourth. She lost almost three minutes to the bronze medal winner, the American Susannah Scaroni. Patricia Eachus from Zurich, the third Swiss participant, followed in 11th place.

(hah/sda)

Extreme athlete Jonas Deichmann has once again pushed the boundaries of what is possible with his latest challenge: he completed 120 triathlons in 120 consecutive days. This means that Deichmann swam 3.8 kilometers, cycled 180 kilometers and then ran a marathon of 42.2 kilometers every day – without a single day’s rest.