Debrunner, Hug continue dominance with Chicago Marathon titles
Paralympic champions Debrunner improves her own course record while Hug wins a three-way battle for the men's wheelchair race title for the fourth time 14 Oct 2024Catherine Debrunner dismantled her own course record to win the 2024 Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday (13 October).
Her victory also seals her a second straight Abbott World Marathon Majors series title with one race to spare.
The Swiss star, hot off a victory at the BMW Berlin-Marathon, dominated the women’s wheelchair race to win in 1:36:12, slicing more than two and a half minutes off of her previous record time, clocked in 2023.
Debrunner, who clinched five gold medals at Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, hit the accelerator pedal as soon as she could, and by 10km was almost 30 seconds clear. She won by nearly three minutes over compatriot Manuela Schär, and also took the eight bonus points for the quickest time through the race’s flying 400 section.
Tatyana McFadden completed the podium in a race she has enjoyed much success in during her long career.
Debrunner is not slated to race in New York in the season finale, but now has a 36-point lead in the series XVI standings that Schär cannot overhaul.
Tight battle
In the men’s competition, Marcel Hug is also out of sight after a tit-for-tat battle with Daniel Romanchuk and Tomoki Suzuki.
The trio exchanged the lead repeatedly during a race that Hug could not bend to his will in his usual fashion.
Despite numerous attempts to accelerate clear of his opponents, it was not until the final climb up Mount Roosevelt that Hug was able to find the strength to create space between himself and American Romanchuk, leaving him clear to turn onto Columbus Drive and power home for another victory.
Hug will arrive in New York assured of another AbbottWMM series crown, and Switzerland will maintain its status as home to the world’s fastest wheelchair racers on the planet.