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Hug completes golden Paralympics sweep in marathon

“Silver bullet” Marcel Hug cemented his place among the many all-time nice Paralympic athletes when he defended his T54 marathon title on Sunday for his fourth gold at Tokyo 2020.

The Swiss wheelchair grasp opened an early hole on the sphere with solely silver medalist Zhang Yong capable of keep in contact earlier than Hug dropped the Chinese athlete during the last two uphill kilometers.

“I don’t know how to feel. I’m just tired. Empty,” mentioned an exhausted Hug who captured the sixth Paralympics gold of his profession on the ultimate day of the Games. “I made it. I don’t know how I made it, but I made it and it’s incredible.”

Hug completed in 1 hour 24 minutes, 2seconds. Zhang was 20 seconds behind for silver with Daniel Romanchuk of the United States a large 5 minutes adrift for bronze.

Hug accomplished a golden sweep in all 4 T54 occasions he entered in Tokyo — 800 meters, 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters and the marathon.

“To be honest, I just hoped that I can make it to the stadium,” mentioned Hug. “I thought maybe I can go together with him in the stadium and then all out in the last lap. I was surprised that I could break away.”

Hug mentioned the magnitude of his achievements nonetheless hadn’t sunk in.

“I really don’t know what it means to me at the moment,” he mentioned. “I hope at home I will have some time to really look back and realize what has happened. It’s just amazing.”

Hug’s “Silver bullet” nickname comes from the mirror end to his helmet, however he mentioned he had no plans to change it to a golden one after his medal rush in Tokyo. “I prefer the silver one. I prefer to have silver on my head and gold round my neck.”

Australia’s Madison de Rozario crosses the road to win the ladies’s T54 marathon. Photo: AFP

By distinction, Madison de Rozario had only a second to spare as she clung on to win the ladies’s T54 marathon in an exhilarating end.

The Australian wheelchair racer entered the stadium with a slender lead over Swiss nice Manuela Schaer, who took silver, with Nikita den Boer of the Netherlands in third.

“That was the longest 500 meters of my life,” a delighted de Rozario instructed reporters after ending first in a Paralympic Games report 1:38.11. “That finish line couldn’t have come quick enough.”

The 27-year-old was including a second gold to her T53 800 meters title in Tokyo. She additionally took bronze within the T54 1,500 meters.

“I’m definitely, by no means, consistently the best so that was definitely a little bit of a surprise,” mentioned De Rozario. “But I’m so proud of myself.”

Schaer was only a second behind the Australian because the Swiss took her third silver of the Games, having additionally received golds within the 400 meters and 800 meters.

“That was a tough one,” mentioned Schaer. “I am so happy for her. She did work really hard and I am super glad it actually came down to the two of us.”

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El Amin Chentouf of Morocco runs within the T12 marathon for visually impaired athletes. Photo: AFP

Veteran El Amin Chentouf of Morocco rolled again the years to defend his title within the T12 marathon for visually impaired athletes, smashing the Paralympic report by nearly six minutes to complete in 2:21:43.

“I am the Eliud Kipchoge of the Paralympics,” mentioned the 40-year-old Chentouf, referring to the Kenyan marathon nice who retained his Olympic gold final month. “Marathon is based on experience and I have got the experience.”

China’s Li Chaoyan retained his title with a dominant run to complete first within the T46 marathon and world report holder Misato Michishita took gold for the host nation within the girls’s T12 marathon.

© 2021 AFP

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