Double London 2012 silver medallist Hug equalled the record of American Raymond Martin by clinching his fifth gold medal of the Championships, on his way to victory in the marathon, while Athens 2004 silver medallist Schaer claimed her first gold medal in Lyon.

Hug, known as the "Swiss Silver Bullet", made his break for gold after a few laps of the Par de Parilly course and lead by over a minute at the 25 kilometre mark, with Poland's Tomasz Hamerlak the only athlete that offered any resistance.

However, the bronze medallist from Athens 2004, could not live with the pace being set by the Swiss, who crossed the line in a time of 1hour 28min 43secs.

Hamerlak took silver while Japan's Kota Hokinoue claimed bronze in a dramatic photo finish just ahead of Frei.

Afterwards, Hug was delighted to have secured the victory and join Martin on five individual golds at the 2013 Championships, following wins in the 400 metres, 1500m, 5,000m and 10,000m.

"It means a lot to me to me because it was so hard," he said.

"I went away early so it was really tough but now I am really happy and I am really tired.

"Every medal is special - it means a lot to me, but the marathon was of course the hardest.

"It was hard being out myself, but I have to say thank you to my staff, they told me the times between me and the other athletes - I knew the gap was growing, so that gave me confidence.

"It was just me against the clock, I didn't recognise the time, but it's not important.

"I just know in my mind, I had so much confidence, but I didn't know how much energy I had left in my arms but in my mind everything was good."


A dramatic women's race, saw Schaer just clinch the gold medal on the line from Japan's Wakako Tsuchida, who took gold in the 5,000m at Athens 2004.

Schaer and Tsuchida were part of a breakaway group of four that also included American Amanda McGrory and Paralympic 5,000m champion Edith Wolf.

However, coming into the final 400m Schaer and Tsuchida battled it out for top spot and the 28-year-old Swiss just held on to claim her first gold of the Championships, with both athletes clocking a time of 1:49:45.

Compatriot Wolf finished in the bronze medal position.

"I have no words for that because I had a perfect week," said Schaer who took silver over 400m, 800m and 5,000m earlier in the week, behind the all conquering Tatyana McFadden of the United States.

"My 800m was awesome, my 400m and 5,000m was great.

"To finish this week with a gold medal is incredible.

"I'm so happy I really didn't expect that.

"Edith broke away at the last downhill and we managed to catch her, so it was all down to the last 600m.

"I come from a sprinting background so I was pretty confident I could sprint away but after all this week with all the other races, it changes everything but I just fought until the end."


In the men's T12 marathon, El Amin Chentouf of Morocco completed a memorable week by adding the marathon title to his 5,000m and 10,000m golds, which also seen him set a new world record in the latter distance.

The 32-year-old finished in a time of 2:29:47 ahead of Colombia's Elkin Serna Moreno and Gabriel Macchi form Portugal, in a race that saw Paralympic champion and world record holder Alberto Suarez of Spain fail to finish.

Alessandro di Lello took the honours in the men's T46.

The Italian finished ahead of Pedro Meza of Mexico in a time of 2:33:42 with Brazil's Ezequiel Costa in third place.

With a time of 2:44:33, Chile's Christian Machado secured his first gold of the Championships in the T11 marathon, having already claimed silver in the 1500m and 5,000m.

Japan's Shinya Wada just pipped Joaquim Machado of Portugal to the silver medal by just 0:16.

It brought the curtain down on nine days of pulsating action in Lyon.

The stand-out performers of this year's Championships all came on the track as McFadden claimed six individual women's gold medals, a new record, while Martin and Hug both claimed five men's individual golds, another record.

Russia edged out the US at the top of the medal table with a total of 53 medals, including 26 gold.

That was one more than the US, but they won only 17 gold. 

The top five was rounded out by Brazil, Ukraine and Britain, who finished with a total of 29 medals, including 11 gold.

The next IPC Athletics World Championships are due to take place in Doha during March 2015.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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