Wheelchair athlete Catherine Debrunner wins gold in the 5000 m at the Paralympics in Paris. It is Switzerland's second medal after bronze for track cyclist Flurina Rigling.
31.08.2024, 11:18
31.08.2024, 11:45
SDA
Debrunner is a logical winner. The 29-year-old from Thurgau tackled the 5000 m race as world champion. She dominated the race together with the American world record holder Susannah Scaroni. The Swiss athlete launched the decisive attack in the last lap on the back straight. With a time of 10:43.62 minutes, she set a Paralympic record over 5000 m.
This is Debrunner's second gold medal at the Paralympics, having triumphed in the 400 m in Tokyo three years ago. Until February 2022, she worked as a teacher alongside athletics, since then she has been a full-time professional. That paid off. At the Para World Championships a year ago, which also took place in Paris, she won four gold medals and one silver.
Now she has also made it onto the top step of the podium at the Paralympics at the first opportunity. "I wasn't sure for a long time because Susannah was going at an extremely fast pace when there were two of us," Debrunner told Swiss television. "I was always pretty much in the red. When she pulled away early, I decided to stay in the slipstream longer and attack afterwards. I managed to do that."
Debrunner has been in a wheelchair since birth due to a tumor on her spine and discovered her passion for athletics as a young girl. In Paris, she plans to compete in five other disciplines, namely the 800 m, 1500 m, 100 m, 400 m and the marathon. She has a good chance of winning medals in all of these events and is therefore likely to make even more headlines.
Hopes for further Swiss podium places in the 5000 m did not materialize. Patricia Eachus and Manuele Schär finished 4th and 5th, beaten on the home straight by Australia's Madison de Rozario. Schär had won silver in this discipline three years ago in Tokyo.
