Tokyo Paralympics: Para athletics day 10 preview

The closing day for Para athletics at the Tokyo 2020 will also mark the final day of the Paralympic Games on 5 September.

Sunday will be reserved for five marathon races with the action starting at 6:30 (Tokyo time) with the men’s marathon T54.

Switzerland's Marcel Hug will be defending his gold medal from Rio 2016. The Swiss Silver Bullet also has a Paralympic silver from London 2012 and will be eyeing for a fourth podium in Tokyo following his victories in the men's 800m, 1500m and 5000m T54. 

David Weir from Great Britain will be one Hug’s main rivals in Tokyo. Weir is the Paralympic champion from London 2012 Paralympics and an eight-time London Marathon winner.

Both Weir and Hug lost out on the last London Marathon in 2020. Canada’s Brent Lakatos triumphed in the streets of the British capital for the first time and he will make his marathon debut at the Games. 

The Canadian is a seven-time Paralympic medallist and has already clinched four silver medals at Tokyo 2020.

USA’s Daniel Romanchuk is another wheelchair racer with plenty of marathon experience. He has two victories in Chicago and one in London. The 23-year-old is also the youngest Para athlete to win both the New York and Boston Marathons, in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

The women’s marathon T54 will be the next start with China’s Lihong Zou in the leading role. She is the defending Paralympic champion from Rio 2016.

USA’s Tatyana McFadden will try to go one better than her Rio 2016 runner-up finish. In 2013, she became the first athlete, able-bodied or Para athlete, to win the four major marathons in the same year. She a the multiple winner of Chicago, New York, Boston, and London Marathon.

McFadden’s compatriot Amanda McGrory is another podium contender with a silver from Beijing 2008 and a bronze from Rio 2016 in her CV. 

Switzerland’s Manuela Schaer is a two-time London Marathon winner, while Nikita Den Boer from the Netherlands surprisingly defeated Schaer at last year’s edition.

The fastest wheelchair racer in the 42km-event this year is Japan's Wakako Tsuchida who set the season-best result in Tachikawa City in March.

Two defending champions looking to retain titles

Jaryd Clifford from Australia is the man to beat in the men’s marathon T12. He is the fastest Para athlete in 2021 and the world record holder from Sydney in April. It was Clifford’s first-ever marathon race.

Morocco’s El Amin Chentouf is the defending Paralympic champion from Rio 2016 and a two-time world champion from Lyon 2013 and London 2019 World Marathon Championships.

Spain’s Alberto Suarez Laso is the silver medallist from Rio 2016 and Paralympic champion from London 2012. The vision-impaired runner from Asturias won the Christchurch 2011 World Championships.

The penultimate final of the day will be the men’s marathon T46 with China's Chaoyan Li defending his gold medal from from Rio 2016. He is the third-fastest man this year with a result set in Xiamen in April.

Portugal’s Manuel Mendes is another medallist from Rio coming to Tokyo. He won bronze five years ago and is the fifth-fastest runner in the world with a time set in Aveiro in April.

Michael Roeger from Australia set the season-best at a competition in Sydney in April and is another one to watch. Japan’s Tsutomu Nagata is in second place in the 2021 ranking with less than seven seconds behind Roeger.

The women’s marathon T12 will close the curtain in Tokyo. Home favourite Misato Michisita has enjoyed recent success taking gold at the London 2019 World Marathon Championships.

She is also a silver medallist from the last Paralympics and will be keen to take gold at home this time. 

Brazil’s Edneusa de Jesus Santos should be Michisita’s biggest threat in the women’s marathon T12.

She won bronze at the Rio 2016 Paralympics and silver at the London 2019 Worlds, finishing behind Michisita on both occasions.

After ten days of intense action and 167 medal events at the National Olympic Stadium, Para athletics will wrap up to return in three year's time at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. 

All results, records and medallists from Para athletics at Tokyo 2020 will be available on Paralympic.org.