Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner sealed Swiss double delight at the 2024 TCS London Marathon to take the wheelchair crowns.
Hug took his London haul to five wins on The Mall after he broke away from the trio of David Weir, Daniel Romanchuk and Tomoki Suzuki to earn victory, while Debrunner earned her second London success in three years.
It was not all gloom and doom for Daniel Romanchuk or Manuela Schär who both claimed the eight bonus points for the fastest time through London’s Flying 400 section as well as the 16 points for second place, which keeps them both in the box seat in th race for the AbbottWMM series title in 2024.
Ominously, Debrunner – on her first outing in the series she won in 2023 – won by more than six minutes, and the next race in September is where she won in a new world record last year.
The Dutch-based racer was over two minutes clear of her countrywoman before the halfway mark and extended her advantage beyond five minutes as she entered the final 10km.
Schär maintained a gap of around a minute over the battle for third-place between American Tatyana McFadden and Australia’s Madison de Rozario, with McFadden edging the Paralympic champion out by three seconds.
Hug’s margin of victory was considerably less, with Romanchuk just 31 seconds behind and Weir a further 50 seconds back.
The result means Romanchuk keeps his lead in the 2024 AbbottWMM series, moving to 64 ahead of Hug on 58 as the season breaks before the Paralympic race in Paris.
Debrunner enters the women’s leaderboard after her first appearance of the year for 25 points, but it’s Schär who leads the way after hauling a total of 24 for her second place and Flying 400 bonus.
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