{"id":42214,"date":"2025-07-31T08:01:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T06:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/athletissima.ch\/marcel-hug-and-the-challenge-of-the-pontaise-bend\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T08:01:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T06:01:04","slug":"marcel-hug-and-the-challenge-of-the-pontaise-bend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/athletissima.ch\/en\/marcel-hug-and-the-challenge-of-the-pontaise-bend\/","title":{"rendered":"Marcel Hug and the Challenge of the Pontaise Bend"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the years it\u2019s included in the program, the wheelchair race truly kicks off the Athletissima evening, just before 8 p.m. This spectacular event is a crowd-pleaser, and Marcel Hug has long been one of its leading figures. The seven-time Paralympic champion from Thurgau shares a few behind-the-scenes insights into his discipline.<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, there\u2019s this slightly surprising admission over the phone:
\u201cHow many Paralympic and World Championship medals do I have? I\u2019m not exactly sure, I don\u2019t count them. There are already enough numbers as it is. But I do remember the titles,\u201d the 39-year-old champion tells us. Once again this year, Marcel Hug will be one of the highlights of Athletissima, racing the 1500m (starting at 7:50 p.m., just before the international program).<\/p>\n

Two years ago, during his last appearance, he won in Lausanne over that distance in 3:09.79. Just like with his medal count, he doesn\u2019t dwell on \u201cdetails\u201d: he doesn\u2019t recall the hundredths of his times, not even of his world records. He holds all of them, from 800m to the marathon.
\u201cMy record is 2 minutes 43-something over 1500m,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

However, there\u2019s no talk of setting a world record in Lausanne\u2014or in other major meets on the circuit.
\u201cTo set records, we need special tracks, without granules, or very worn out, smooth surfaces like those in Nottwil or Arbon. But those tracks, while ideal for us, are tough on joints and muscles.\u201d<\/p>\n

No matter\u2014this only makes the competition at La Pontaise all the more exciting.
\u201cThe tactical aspect is very important in the 1500m. You have to know how to draft well in the pack and sprint at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Lausanne, there\u2019s an added challenge (though it\u2019s actually an advantage for able-bodied athletes): the curves are very wide, and the angles are unusual.
\u201cThis forces us, the wheelchair athletes, to make a correction using upper-body movement during the turns to maintain the right trajectory,\u201d explains the man with seven Paralympic titles and dozens of World and Paralympic medals.<\/p>\n

\n

Pushing Toward Equality<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAthletissima is always a highlight of my season. It\u2019s a great opportunity for us to showcase our sport. The crowd is always fantastic\u2014they cheer us on from start to finish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcel Hug\u2019s category (T54, the fastest in para athletics) is highly regarded, and organizers give its champions the recognition they deserve.
\u201cWhen I started out in junior competitions, I never dreamed that one day our prize money could be equal to\u2014or not far from\u2014that of able-bodied athletes,\u201d says the \u201cSwiss Silver Bullet\u201d (his nickname, referencing his silver helmet).<\/p>\n

At major marathons, like the London Marathon\u2014where he claimed victory for the 7th time this spring\u2014the winner\u2019s prize ($55,000) is the same as for the runners. At track meets, full equality hasn\u2019t been reached yet, but Marcel Hug is very happy with the conditions offered and the welcome he receives\u2014especially at Athletissima.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt the crowd at this 50th edition is ready to give him another standing ovation!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the years it\u2019s included in the program, the wheelchair race truly kicks off the Athletissima evening, just before 8 p.m. This spectacular event is a crowd-pleaser, and Marcel Hug has long been one of its leading figures. The seven-time Paralympic champion from Thurgau shares a few behind-the-scenes insights into his discipline. First, there\u2019s this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42212,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-non-classifiee"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/athletissima.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/athletissima.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/athletissima.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athletissima.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athletissima.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/athletissima.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athletissima.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/athletissima.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athletissima.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/athletissima.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}