- Catherine Debrunner continues her winning streak at the Paralympics in Paris over 1500 m.
- The Thurgau native secured the gold medal with ease – it is already her third at these games.
- Manuela Schär is involved in a fall 400 m before the finish and is out of the medal race.
- Switzerland has already won 8 medals in Paris (5 gold).
Catherine Debrunner is increasingly becoming the queen of the Paralympics. The Swiss wheelchair athlete secured her third gold medal in Paris in the 1500 m race. The Thurgau native had previously won the 800 m and 5000 m.
Debrunner took the lead in the first few meters and took a safe start-to-finish victory. On the last lap, the 29-year-old really upped the pace and left her competitors far behind. Debrunner, who also holds the 1500 m world record, set a Paralympic record of 3:13.10 minutes. Silver winner Samantha Kinghorn (GBR) lost almost 3 seconds. Third place went to Susannah Scaroni from the USA.
Eachus fourth – Schär falls
Another Swiss athlete, Patricia Eachus, came fourth. She missed bronze by 1.70 seconds. Eachus had already had to settle for fourth place in the 5000 m. Manuela Schär had a lot of bad luck. The 39-year-old was involved in a fall with the Chinese Zhaoqian Zhou 400 m from the finish and was therefore out of the running for a medal.
Protest from China was rejected
The Chinese association lodged a protest after the race due to the turbulent final phase. For a short time, a possible repeat was on the table. Early on Tuesday evening, the result was finally confirmed, as the appeal was ignored by the decision-makers.
But Debrunner will have to wait for the award ceremony. It was supposed to take place early on Tuesday afternoon, but has now been postponed by around 24 hours and is expected to take place early on Wednesday afternoon.
Debrunner on the hunt for records
Debrunner’s three gold medals are a first. Never before has a Swiss woman been able to triumph three times at the same Paralympic event. Together with the gold in the 400 m in Tokyo 2021, Debrunner now has four Paralympic triumphs.
The Swiss record is held by Elisabeth Bisquolm, who triumphed in athletics and table tennis six times between 1976 and 1988. Debrunner, four-time world champion in Paris last year, will also compete in the 100 m, 400 m and marathon and thus has the chance to become the Swiss record holder in Paris.
