Athletics

Hug and Debrunner defend London wheelchair titles

February 1, 2023

Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner return to the marathon to face David Weir and Manuela Schär among others on April 23

The richest prizes in elite wheelchair racing have been made even more lucrative in 2023 as the TCS London Marathon increases its prize money once again.

Course record holders and defending champions Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland, plus eight-time winner David Weir and another Swiss para-athlete, Manuela Schär, lead a stellar cast of names who will be competing for first place and a prize of $45,000 on April 23.

The TCS London Marathon has increased the winners’ prize money by $10,000 from last year and the overall prize pot, across both the male and female races, has grown in 2023 by $54,000, from $199,500 to $253,500. Prize money is available for athletes finishing in the top 10 with further prize money available for the Abbott World Marathon Majors Flying 400, the competition within the TCS London Marathon for the fastest wheelchair racer over a 400m distance.

Hugh Brasher, event director, said: “The elite wheelchair racers who come to the TCS London Marathon every year are among the most incredible dedicated athletes in any sport, anywhere in the world. We are determined to continue to promote the sport and these athletes by improving the prize money incrementally with an ultimate ambition to create parity with the able-bodied athletes.”

David Weir (London Marathon)

In the elite men’s wheelchair race this year, Hug will be looking to match Weir’s TCS London Marathon record of three consecutive wins on the street of London.

The Swiss athlete is the No.1 racer in the world and won every Abbott World Marathon Major Marathon he raced last year (Tokyo, Berlin, London, Chicago and New York).

Among those trying to stop Hug will be Weir, who has won a record eight times in London and returns for what will be his 24th consecutive London Marathon, and Daniel Romanchuk of the United States, who finished second to Hug after a thrilling sprint finish on The Mall in October.

In the women’s race, Debrunner will face competition from two women who had to withdraw from the 2022 TCS London Marathon on the eve of the event: Schär and Madison de Rozario of Australia.

Catherine Debrunner (centre) (Mark Shearman)

Schär is the world record-holder and a three-time London Marathon champion, while De Rozario is the Paralympic and Commonwealth Games champion who won the 2018 London Marathon.

Susannah Scaroni, who won last year’s Chicago Marathon and the overall Abbott World Marathon Majors Series XIV title, returns to London after second place in London last year, as do past London Marathon champions Nikita Den Boer and Tatyana McFadden, plus talented young Brit Eden Rainbow-Cooper, who finished third last year in her first full TCS London Marathon.

TCS London Marathon elite men’s wheelchair field