Swiss sweep the wheelchair spoils in Berlin

Marcel Hug stormed to victory in the men’s wheelchair race at the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON to take the lead in the Abbott World Marathon Majors Series XIV.

The Swiss reigning champion was locked level at the top of the standings with American Daniel Romanchuk coming into the race.

The pair were in a trio with British legend David Weir for much of the first 10km before the man known as the Silver Bullet made his move.

"In the first kilometers we ran a very tactical race," said Hug.

"At kilometer nine, I decided to take the lead for good. At the end I just concentrated on myself and kept the pace really high."

Building a gap that quickly grew to over three minutes, Hug pushed home his advantage to emerge the clear winner in 1:24:56 on a course he has now conquered seven times, and he heads into London, where he also won last year, in confident mood.

There was also Swiss success on the women’s wheelchair side, but this time from an unfamiliar source.

With defending Series champion Manuela Schär gunning for a sixth straight win in Berlin, the oddsmakers would have favored her heavily.

But she was denied on this occasion by newcomer and fellow Swiss Catherine Debrunner, who outmuscled Schär and American Susannah Scaroni down the home straight to win in 1:36:47, just three seconds ahead of Schär with Scaroni one second further back.

The trio had been in a battle for almost the entire contest, which augurs well for some thrilling racing as we head into two more consecutive weekends of AbbottWMM action in London and Chicago.

"It was an incredibly great day for me, competing on the road is something completely different than on the track. You have to be much more attentive," said the new champion.

For now, Schär’s second place is enough to build a cushion at the top of the Series XIV standings.