Para-athletics in Paris – Debrunner triumphs over 5000 m and takes gold – Sport

• Catherine Debrunner wins the second Swiss medal at the Paralympics in Paris.
• The Thurgau native wins the gold medal over 5000 m.
• Patricia Eachus (4th) and Manuela Schär (5th) narrowly missed the medals.

Catherine Debrunner struck at the first opportunity at the Paralympics. The 29-year-old delivered an almost perfect race over 5000 m. Together with world record holder Susannah Scaroni from the USA, the Thurgau native had managed to pull away by halfway through the race.

She started the final lap from position 2 – and pulled irresistibly past her opponent on the back straight. Debrunner set a new Paralympic record in 10:43.62 minutes. For the Thurgau native, who held the world record in the 5000 m for a time this year, it is the second Paralympic gold medal of her career. In Tokyo she won gold in the 400 m.

Paris and Debrunner – a perfect match

Debrunner was overjoyed after her triumph. Scaroni had set an extremely high pace. “I was always pretty much in the red zone. I then decided to stay in the slipstream for longer and then attack,” explained the former teacher, who has been focusing entirely on sport since 2022.

After she and the American had broken away, a brief discussion took place between the two opponents. “She asked me if we could go fast together,” Debrunner said in an interview. From that point on, it was clear that the two would fight it out for gold.

Debrunner had already impressively demonstrated that she can achieve top performances in Paris a year ago. At the Para Athletics World Championships, she won gold in four different distances, including the 5000 m. Debrunner will compete in five other disciplines at the current Paralympics. It is quite possible that this was not her last medal in Paris.

Eachus and Schär narrowly miss out on precious metal

In addition to gold, Switzerland almost won another medal in the 5000 m. Patricia Eachus and Manuela Schär were narrowly defeated by Australian Madison de Rozario in the final sprint for bronze. The two Swiss women were only 0.24 and 0.32 seconds behind respectively. Schär is competing in her 6th Paralympics in Paris and will be competing on the track for the last time in France.