Silver Bullet hails “huge leap forward for equality” as he aims for historic eighth victory at TCS London Marathon

Swiss superstar Marcel Hug will be bidding for another record at this year’s TCS London Marathon on Sunday 26 April.

The man known as the Silver Bullet tops the elite wheelchair fields and is aiming to draw level with British Paralympic hero David Weir with a historic eighth victory in London.

Already the greatest marathon wheelchair racer in history, victory would put him alongside Weir as the most successful athlete in London Marathon history.

Hug a class apart

And Weir himself will be one of the athletes looking to find a way to stop Hug’s seemingly unstoppable path to history. Also up against him once again are last year’s second and third-placed athletes, Tomoki Suzuki (JPN) and Jetze Plat (NED), plus the 2019 London Marathon champion, Daniel Romanchuk (USA).

Hug’s marathon racing record is unparalleled. He has won 39 Abbott World Marathon major races, including the BMW Berlin Marathon a staggering 10 times.

The Swiss has also won the last three Paralympic Games marathons and holds the world record of 1:17:47, set in Oita, Japan, in 2021.

In London, Hug is the course record holder (1:23:44, 2023) and is on an unsurpassed sequence of five consecutive wins dating back to 2021. He also won in 2014 and 2016.

Enduring rivalry

Hug, 40, told the race’s official media channels: “I look forward every year to taking part in the TCS London Marathon. Of course it is one of the most famous marathons in the world but, for me, it is more than a race, it is an organisation that has done so much to put wheelchair racing and us as athletes at the very heart of the event.

“We now race for the same prize money as the other elite athlete races which has been a huge leap forward for equality and it is for this reason that I am proud to have enjoyed the success I have here and to be one win away from a legend like David Weir is incredible.

“But records are not something I will be thinking about. My focus will just be on my race and performing to the highest level I can on the day.”

Hug and Weir have enjoyed an enduring rivalry. Weir’s eight London wins span 16 years (between 2002 and 2018) and, despite now being 46, he remains one of Hug’s closest challengers. He finished second behind the Swiss in their most recent meeting, at the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon.

Weir told the TCS London Marathon website: “Marcel is an incredible athlete operating at the peak of his powers. Of course, I will do all I can to stop him from drawing level with me but he is, arguably, the most dominant athlete in their sport anywhere in the world right now and will go down as one of the all-time greats.”

London legends

Hugh Brasher, London Marathon Events CEO, said: “Marcel Hug and David Weir are two greats of not just wheelchair racing and Paralympic sport, but sport as a whole.

“When David reached eight London Marathon wins in 2018 to become the most decorated athlete in our history, I expected that record to last for many, many years. But Marcel has taken wheelchair racing to another level and his five successive wins here in London is evidence of that.

“Whatever the outcome on Sunday 26 April, David and Marcel will forever be legends in London Marathon history.”

Debrunner bids for hat-trick

In the elite women’s wheelchair race, another dominant Swiss athlete heads up the field: Catherine Debrunner.

Debrunner has won the last two TCS London Marathons and was just seconds away from the world record in the 2025 race when she set a course record of 1:34:18.

Previous champions Manuela Schär (SUI) and Tatyana McFadden (USA) have also been confirmed for this year alongside British talent Eden Rainbow Cooper.

As has Susannah Scaroni (USA), who finished runner-up to Debrunner in London but was the most successful racer on the Abbott World Marathon Majors circuit overall in 2025, winning races in Boston, Sydney, Chicago and New York.

In 2024, the TCS London Marathon became the first marathon in the world to make its prize money for wheelchair and non-disabled elite athletes exactly the same.