After her triumphs in the 5000 and 800 m, wheelchair athlete Catherine Debrunner also secures the gold medal in the 1500 m at the Paralympics in Paris.
Catherine Debrunner was responsible for a first in Paris. Never before has a Swiss woman triumphed 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 the 400m.
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 2 is now Debrunner, who is also the favorite in Paris in the 100 m, 400 m and marathon.
Debrunner was also in a class of her own in the 1500m. The world record holder and world champion in this discipline, who was named "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 an ungrateful fourth, as she did in the 5000m. 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 put an end to her dream of a second medal in Paris.
SDA
