Debrunner secures triple Swiss gold at Paris Paralympics

Swiss wheelchair athlete Catherine Debrunner winds the 1,500m race Keystone

After triumphing in the 5,000 and 800 metres, Swiss wheelchair athlete Catherine Debrunner has secured a triple gold medal in the 1,500 metres at the Paralympics in Paris.

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Debrunner is the first Swiss woman to triumph three times at a Paralympic Games. Overall, it was the fourth gold medal for the 29-year-old from Thurgau at the most important event in disabled sport – three years ago in Tokyo, she won in the 400 metres.

The most successful Swiss woman at the Paralympics is Elisabeth Bisquolm, who climbed to the top of the podium six times in athletics and table tennis between 1976 and 1988. Number two is now Debrunner, who is also the favourite in Paris in the 100m, 400 m and marathon.

Debrunner was in a class of her own over 1,500 metres. The world record holder and world champion in this discipline, who was honoured as ‘Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability’ at last year’s Laureus Awards, controlled the race from the front.

On the final lap, she gave her opponents no chance. With a Paralympic record of 3:13.10 minutes, Debrunner outpaced Great Britain’s Samantha Kinghorn by 2.91 seconds. American Susannah Sciaroni took bronze.

Switzerland’s Patricia Eachus finished fourth, as she did in the 5,000 metres. Manuela Schär, who had triumphed in the T54 category in the 800 m on Sunday, was unlucky. The 39-year-old from Lucerne collided with China’s Zhou Zhaoqian shortly after the start of the last lap and crashed. This ended her dream of a second medal in Paris.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

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