Marcel Hug

Marcel ‘The Silver Bullet’ Hug is a Swiss Paralympian known for his success in T54 wheelchair racing events. He has competed in an incredible four Paralympic Games, taking home no fewer than a dozen medals, including six gold, four of which he won at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games in 2021. He has also six European Championship gold medals, and nine World Championship medals (and a further nine silver). If that wasn’t enough, he has also won most of the world’s most prestigious marathons (several more than once), including the London Marathon, Boston Marathon, New York Marathon, Chicago Marathon, and Paris Marathon.

Hug was born in the small municipality of Pfyn, Switzerland (a majority German-speaking village near the border), in January 1986. He was born with spina bifida, and as a child, he idolised multi-medal-winning wheelchair and Swiss compatriot Franz Nietlispach. After meeting his hero, Hug decided he wanted to become a wheelchair racer too, and when he was 10 years old, his school sports teacher brought him an old racing wheelchair. Hug began training and won his first big race, strengthening his determination to emulate his hero Nietlispach.

In 2004, he was chosen to represent Switzerland at the Paralympics and won bronze in the 800-metre and 1500-metre T54 races. He was also named Newcomer of the Year at the Credit Suisse Sports Award and invited to join the national team. After a medal-less 2008 Games, he won two silvers at the 2012 Games, but it was the 2016 Games that saw him win his first two golds, in the marathon and 800-metre races. He successfully defended these in 2020 whilst also adding the 1500-metre and 5000-metre golds to his collection in a stunning feat of strength and endurance.