Debrunner celebrates Tokyo Marathon win and Laureus nomination

Catherine Debrunner has had a lot to celebrate this week as she followed up her Tokyo Marathon debut victory with a nomination to the 2025 Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award.

The Swiss wheelchair racer won five golds and a silver medal at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. She topped the podium in the 400m T53, 800m T53, 1500m T54, 500m T54 and marathon T54 events, while securing a silver medal in the 100m T53. In the Abbott World Marathon Majors Series 2024, Debrunner also triumphed in the London and Berlin marathons. 

She won the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award in 2023. The other nominees to the 2025 Laureus Awards are Para swimmers Teresa Perales of Spain and Yuyan Jiang of China, Japanese wheelchair tennis player Tokito Oda, USA Para archer Matt Stutzman, and Chinese Para badminton player Qu Zimo.

The Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award recognises the incredible achievements by Para athletes in 2024, including at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. The nominees are submitted by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The winner is set to be announced on 21 April in Spanish capital Madrid.

◥◣ #TokyoMarathon 2025 ◢◤
🌿Taking 1st place in the
Women’s Wheelchair Marathon!🌿
Congratulations to Catherine Debrunner (Switzerland)!!
✨ 🏆 ✨ pic.twitter.com/U6WH0p2bas

— Tokyo Marathon Foundation (@TokyoMarathon_E) March 2, 2025

Meanwhile, in Tokyo Catherine Debrunner broke the course record to win her debut Tokyo Marathon in style.

It was the dream start to the defence of her AbbottWMM Series title as she romped to victory in 1:35:56 to snatch the course mark from her fellow Swiss racer Manuela Schaer.

Susannah Scaroni took second place with 1:36:28, also inside the old record, while China’s Zhaoqian Zhou was third in 1:37:46, just edging Schaer off the podium by five seconds.

“I am very happy and grateful that I was able to start the 2025 season so well! The conditions were perfect, the course was optimal, and we had a very strong women's field at the start. I shared the lead together till 40km with [Susannah] Scaroni.

Thank you for pushing me and congratulations on your second place,” Debrunner posted on social media. 

In the men’s race there was hometown joy as Tomoki Suzuki kept hold of the title he claimed in 2024.

The Japanese star stopped the clock at 1:19:14, over 10 minutes ahead of second-placed Xingchuan Luo of China, with another Chinese racer, Zhang Ying in third.

More information and complete results of the 2025 Tokyo Marathon can be found here.