AW’s para male athlete of the year talks about his ever-growing tally of marathon wins, the role of technology in wheelchair racing and what the future might hold.
Marcel Hug isn’t planning on retiring any time soon. The “Swiss Silver Bullet” has had another extraordinary season, with success on both the track and roads.
At the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi, he secured his 13th world title with T54 5000m gold in the Indian capital. The 39-year-old once again dominated on the roads, with major marathon victories in Boston, London, Berlin, Sydney, Chicago and New York City.
Voted as AW’s Male Para Athlete of the Year, Hug is already plotting more domination in 2026 and, even though he will be turning 40, still has an insatiable appetite for more.
How would you sum up 2025?
This year was a really intense season with the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi, as well as a lot of marathons. I had a lot of new experiences, including being out in India and then in Australia for the Sydney Marathon. It was incredible to win the 5000m and so many of these prestigious marathons once again.
You won Boston marathon for an eighth time, took your London tally to five, secured victory in Sydney, made it 10 wins in Berlin, triumphed in Chicago on a sixth occasion and made it seven in New York City. How do you reflect on those numbers?
To be honest, it is rather incredible. If I look at those statistics, though, it makes me feel pretty old! As an athlete, I don’t like to look back too much. Usually I’m looking to the future and always have the next competition in my mind. I try to be more present and enjoy every single marathon. But I think the time to really reflect is when I stop my career.
What do you make of the current elite wheelchair set-up in marathons and how would you improve it?
I think it’s good that we’ve now got a major marathon in Australia and that will expand to Africa soon. From an organisational view as well, we are in a great way. It’s perfect. There are a lot of opportunities and we are included.
Inclusion is so important in marathons and that includes the mass participation element as well. The fact that marathons are continuing to grow is brilliant for the sport.
I would say though that, for us wheelchair athletes, it maybe should be more regulated as, compared to the runners, there aren’t too many of us in the field. So instead of spreading the fields over a lot of marathons, we should just try to focus on a few.
More generally, I’m also a bit worried about the numbers of younger athletes coming through. I think there’s a lot of potential to grow in this area, especially in the build-up to LA 2028.
Do you see yourself competing at LA 2028?
It’s not decided yet. I’m just planning year on year right now. I’m 39 right now so we will see what transpires.
How influential has technology been to you in recent years and are there many noticeable differences when competing?
It’s firstly very important to have this technology because every sport has to evolve over time. I think it makes us more attractive to watch and it also helps us with our performance.
For example, the aerodynamics on chairs now are so much better and it means that there is far less loss of energy when we’re racing. When you are at such a high level, you need to find every single per cent to improve as it could impact the result of the race. From a commercial standpoint, it’s also wonderful that big brands and companies are involved in para sport.
You’ve achieved so much in your career so what still keeps you motivated?
There are so many things that keep me motivated. I just love the sport. I like the training, being outside and the health aspect of moving my body.
I want to keep pushing the boundaries and seeing what’s possible. I’m always looking for marginal gains and to keep improving day by day.
Eliud Kipchoge has announced a World Tour of running seven marathons on all seven continents over two years. Would you want to try and do something similar in para-sport at some point?
I have not thought about a plan like this! But one of the main reasons I went to race at the Sydney Marathon was because it was their first edition as a major and I wanted to support them by being there. It was so exciting to have a new course and challenge.
I hope to do this with Cape Town and Shanghai over the next few years as well but it’s not decided yet.
In terms of legacy, I want to inspire the next generation. I’ve already organised, along with my coach, the “Swiss Silver Bullet Training Camp” in Nottwil, Switzerland. Young athletes from around the world can come here and we train together for one week. That is so important.