Swiss wheelchair racer takes fourth title at this summer’s Paralympics in the marathon as Britain’s David Weir is fifth

Marcel Hug has been in the form of his life at the Tokyo Games and earned his fourth gold on Sunday (Sept 5) in the T54 men’s marathon.

After adding the 26.2-mile crown to his previous wins at 800m, 1500m and 5000m in recent days, maybe he should change his ‘silver bullet’ nickname?

“No, I will not change. I prefer to have silver on my head and gold around my neck!” he smiled.

Hug broke clear on a wet morning in Japan with China’s Yong Zhang and then he dropped the Chinese athlete just before they reached the Olympic Stadium to clock 1:24:02 ahead of the runner-up’s 1:24:22 with Daniel Romanchuk of the United States almost four minutes behind in third.

British wheelchair racing legend David Weir was fifth in 1:29:05 with team-mate Johnboy Smith 10th in 1:32:35.

“I’ve never really had the chance to look back at what happened because I was already looking forward at the next competition,” Hug added when asked about his achievement.

“I hope at home I will have some time to really look back and realise what happened. For me and my career, it’s just amazing.”

As the Paralympics drew to a close there was a victory on the roads for the host nation too as Japan’s Misato Michishita improved on her silver from Rio 2016 to take gold in the women’s T12 marathon.

“I felt the power of the cheering of the people who have supported us,” Michishita said. “While running, I’ve heard the voices of my coaches and people that I know, who gave us a big energy. So I was very excited to run here.”

In the women’s T54 marathon, Madison de Rozario of Australia held off Manuela Schär of Switzerland to win narrowly in 1:32:12 with Nikita den Boer of Netherlands third just four seconds further back.

“That is the longest 500 metres I’ve ever pushed through,” said De Rozario. “To come into the stadium with a bit of a gap was nice. I wasn’t just going to hold it so that finish line couldn’t have come quick enough.”

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