Hug to lead Switzerland into Lyon

“I’d like to think I’m a favourite in all my events, but I’m not the only one to watch”

Wheelchair racers Marcel Hug, Heinz Frei and Edith Wolf-Hunkeler headline the 14-strong Swiss delegation announced this week for the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships, which will run from 19-28 July in Lyon, France.

Without Australia’s Kurt Fearnley or Great Britain’s David Weir competing in Lyon, Hug will be the face of the T54 class, aiming for gold in all of his events.

He currently holds the world records in the 800m, 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m distances.

“I’d like to think I’m a favourite in all my events, but I’m not the only one to watch,” Hug told Paralympic.org. “There’s also a lot of top wheelchair racers from Japan and France.”

Frei, a veteran in the sport, has won the London Marathon three times and 14 golds combined at the summer and winter Paralympics.

Wolf-Hunkeler, a three-time Paralympian, will try to mirror or better her performance from London 2012, where she won a gold, two silvers and a bronze.

Nearly 1,300 athletes from 90 countries will be in Lyon in total – the largest gathering of athletes since London 2012.

The complete Swiss roster for the World Championships is as follows:

Christoph Bausch (T44)

Beat Boesch (T52)

Catherine Debrunner (T53)

Heinz Frei (T53)

Sandra Graf (T54)

Philip Handler (T13)

Alexandra Helbling (T54)

Marcel Hug (seated, T54)

Patricia Keller (T54)

Tobias Lotscher (T54)

Bojan Mitic (T34)

Manuela Schar (T54)

Cornel Villiger (T53)

Edith Wolf-Hunkeler (T54)