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Marcel Hug is a seven-time Paralympic champion, 13-time world champion, and the marathon world -record holder who will race for a record-extending seventh TCS New York City Marathon title.

Hug has won five out of seven World Marathon Majors this year, and he’s looking to make the podium at the TCS New York City Marathon after he placed fourth last year. Most recently, he won Gold in the 500 meters at the World Champions in New Delhi, and two weeks after he conquered the Chicago Marathon title for the sixth time, breaking the tape in 1:23:20.

Last year, he won the London, Boston, and Paris Paralympic marathons, breaking the course record in Boston despite a crash in the race. He also won silver in the 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters, and bronze in the 800 meters in Paris.

In 2023, he swept all six Abbott World Marathon Majors races, becoming the first man to ever do so. He won the Abbott World Marathon Majors series title for the fifth time and broke course records in Tokyo, Boston, and Chicago in the process. He won New York in 1:25:29, only three seconds off his own course record set in 2022, and months after winning three golds at the World Para Athletics Championships.

Hug also won the TCS New York City Marathon in 2021, 2017, 2016, and 2013. In 2021, he and Manuela Schär became the first pair from the same country to sweep the wheelchair division titles. In 2016, he held off Kurt Fearnley in a sprint finish to win by six hundredths of a second.  

In 2022, Hug won five of the six Abbott World Marathon Majors races, breaking the course record in both London and Chicago, and in 2021 he won four of the races. In 2021, Hug also won four gold medals at the Tokyo Paralympics—a second consecutive gold medal in the marathon in addition to titles in the 800, 1,500, and 5,000 meters. He has 12 career Paralympic medals to his name dating back to 2004. To finish 2021, he smashed the 22-year-old world record at the Oita Marathon by more than two minutes to finish in 1:17:47. 

Hug has won Swiss national titles at every distance from 100 meters to 10,000 meters and is a 13-time World Para Athletics Championships gold medalist. He earned his nickname, “The Silver Bullet,” from his record-setting racing times and his chrome-plated racing helmet.

Born with spina bifida, Hug grew up on a farm surrounded by cows and chickens, and would collect apples and potatoes. Wheelchair racing came into his life by chance when a teacher brought in an old racing chair and asked if someone wanted to try it. Hug also holds training camps with his coach, Paul Odermatt, hoping to inspire the next generation of wheelchair racers.