American McFadden set a new course record of 1 hour 45min 11sec on her way to defending her London Marathon title, beating nearest rival Manuela Schär of Switzerland by more than a minute-and-a-half.

"I did a lot of work in the team," said McFadden.

"I was nervous, but I was not in my chair for three weeks.

"It was a tough race, but I stayed calm and relaxed and I tried to use the downhills as much as I could."

The 24-year-old is fresh from her remarkable silver medal in the one kilometre sit-ski event at Sochi 2014, adding to the 10 Paralympic medals she has won at the Summer Games.

She dominated the 2013 marathon season, picking up wins in Boston, London, New York City and Chicago to become the first athlete - disabled or able-bodied - to triumph in all four major marathons in a single year.

The three-time gold medallist at London 2012 then added six gold medals at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Championships in Lyon to round off the year.

Marcel Hug beat Britain's David Weir in a remarkable finish to secure the men's wheelchair title at the 2014 London Marathon ©Getty Images


Swiss racer Hug crossed the line in 1:32:39 to edge out Weir who was gunning for a record seventh London title, by just one second.

"I'm very pleased to win and happy that I have beaten David." said Hug.

"I wanted to be an active part in the race, stay with the leaders and attack as many times as I could.

"I could see the others were on the limit, so it meant I was doing well."

The victory is a first for Hug at the London Marathon after finishing runner-up in 2010, 2012 and 2013.

Weir was hoping to add a record seventh London Marathon title after his maiden victory in 2002.

He was left disappointed last year where he had to settle for fifth here in London and will have to wait yet another year if he is to pull clear of the record six titles that he currently shares with fellow Briton Baroness Tanni-Grey Thompson.

"I had a little virus last week, but nothing major," said Weir.

"During the race Marcel tried to test me a couple of times, but I knew with the four of us in the pack, it was going to be between me and him.

"On another day it might have been me who crossed the line first, but he just got me this time."

The two elite wheelchair races at the London Marathon were incorporated in the IPC Athletics Marathon World Cup, now its its second year.

The event includes races for athletes with visual impairment, T11-T13, athletes with limb impairments, T42-T43 and T44-T46, and the new T51-T52 wheelchair race, which runs alongside the T53-T54 races.

El Amin Chentouf defended his men's T11-T13 title with a dominant victory on the streets of London ©Getty Images



Following on from his world-record breaking victory in least year's race, Morocco's El Amin Chentouf successfully defended his title in the men's T11-T13, finishing in 2:25:06, well clear of the chasing pack.

In the women's T11-T13 race, Maria del Carmen Paredes Rodriguez retained her title and smashed the official world record she set a year ago, to win in a time of 2:59:22.

The Japanese duo of Misato Michishita and Mihoko Nishijimi came second and third with times of 3:09:40 and 3:20:18 respectively.
Britain's Richard Whitehead won the T42 race, coming home in 3:42:04, considerably slower than the world record of 3:15:53, which he set here last year.

In the T44-T46 men's category, Brazil's Tito Sena - who won T46 marathon gold at the London 2012 Paralympics - once again enjoyed success on the streets of London as he won in 2:35:45, ahead of Alessandro Di Lello of Italy, who finished in 2:41:05, and compatriot Ezequiel Da Costa, who came home in 2:47:17.

The other IPC Athletics Marathon World Cup event featured the T51-T52 wheelchair men's race, where Santiago Sanz came out on top.

The Spaniard recorded a time of 1:58:16 to edge out American Raymond Martin on 2:00:35 and Great Britain's Rob Smith, who finished in 2:09:33.

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