Marathons at the Paralympics

Marathon events have been held at the Summer Paralympic Games , for both men and women, since the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville and New York City. ^{[1] [2]} They are held as part of the Paralympic athletics programme.

Since the 1996 Games in Atlanta, marathon events, along with all other track events, have been categorised as follows: ^{[3] [4] [5]}

• Visually impaired athletes compete in categories T11, T12 and T13, based on their level of disability. Totally blind athletes compete in T11 events, and are permitted to run with a sighted guide. (In 1996 only, the categories were named T10, T11 and T12, and blind athletes were thus categorised "T10".) The marathon for visually impaired athletes is held only for men, and in 2008, no marathon was held in categories T11 or T13, leaving the men's T12 marathon as the sole event for visually impaired athletes. The same was true in 2012.
• Athletes with lower limb amputations, competing with prosthetics, run in categories T42 to T44, depending on their level of disability. In the marathon, athletes in these categories were able to compete only in 1996, when they were grouped together in a single event. The event was held for men only.
• Athletes with upper limb amputations compete in category T46. The marathon in this category exists only for men. In 1996, they ran mixed with lower limb amputees. In 2000, they were awarded their distinct race, which was cancelled in 2004 and restored in 2008.
• Wheelchair athletes compete in categories T51 to T54. These are the only categories open to women as well as men for the marathon. In 2008, three marathons were held in these categories: T52 for men, T54 for men and T54 for women. In 2012, there were only two: the men's T54 and the women's T54.

Heinrich Koeberle of Germany, active from 1984 to 2000, is the most successful Paralympic marathon competitor to date, having won four gold medals and one silver. Among the women, Connie Hansen of Denmark and Jean Driscoll of the United States have each won two Paralympic marathons. ^{[6] [7]}

Results by Games ^{[8] [9]}

1984

At the 1984 Games in Stoke Mandeville and New York, seven marathons were held for men, and four for women, all for wheelchair athletes. In the men's event 1A, only three runners started the race: Heinrich Koeberle from West Germany, his compatriot H. Lobbering (full name not recorded), and Rainer Kueschall of Switzerland. Only Koeberle reached the finish line. ^[10] In women's event 5, there were only two competitors, both from Mexico. Both reached the finish line. ^[11]

Men's events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon 1A details	Heinrich Koeberle   West Germany
Marathon 1B details	J. Matsson   Sweden	Peter Schmid   Switzerland	Ronan Rooney   Ireland
Marathon 1C details	Alan Dufty   Australia	D. Wallen   United States	Eduardo Monsalvo   Mexico
Marathon 2 details	Heinz Frei   Switzerland	Paul Clark   Canada	Graham Condon   New Zealand
Marathon 3 details	André Viger   Canada	Gregor Golombek   West Germany	R. Sampson   Canada
Marathon 4 details	Rick Hansen   Canada	Jean Francois Poitevin   France	R. Minor   Canada
Marathon 5 details	Mel Fitzgerald   Canada	B. Hedrick   United States	Tom Foran   United States

Women's events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon 2 details	J. Schiff   United States	Patricia Hill   New Zealand	Dora Garcia   Mexico
Marathon 3 details	G. Beyer   West Germany	Julie Russell   Australia	D. Smith   Great Britain
Marathon 4 details	J. Randles   Australia	Kay McShane   Ireland	S. Norman   United States
Marathon 5 details	Juana Soto   Mexico	E. Belmont   Mexico

1988

The number of events at the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul was expanded to eleven for men, but restricted to three for women (with category 5 being closed).

Men's events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon 1A details	Heinrich Koeberle   West Germany	Rainer Kueschall   Switzerland	Bart Dodson   United States
Marathon 1B details	Serge Raymond   Canada	Jan-Owe Mattsson   Sweden	Clayton Gerein   Canada
Marathon 1C details	John Brewer   United States	Alan Dufty   Australia	Johann Kastner   West Germany
Marathon 2 details	Marc Quessy   Canada	Paul Clark   Canada	Michael Trujillo   United States
Marathon 3 details	André Viger   Canada	Urs Scheidegger   Switzerland	Phil Carpenter   United States
Marathon 4 details	Jean Francois Poitevin   France	Farid Amarouche   France	Rafael Ibarra   United States
Marathon 5-6 details	Jonathon Puffenberger   United States	Tom Foran   United States	Georg Schrattenecker   Austria
Marathon A1–3/A9/L1–2 details	Mustapha Badid   France	Philippe Couprie   France	Ted Vince   Canada
Marathon B1 details	Joerund Gaasemyr   Norway	David Jakubovich   Israel	Carlos Roberto Sestrem   Brazil
Marathon B2 details	Stephen Brunt   Great Britain	Paul Collet   France	David Mills   New Zealand
Marathon B3 details	Carlos Talbott   United States	Mark Farnell   Great Britain	Wieslaw Miech   Poland

Women's events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon 2 details	Tami Oothoudt   United States	Ann Walters   United States	Patricia Hill   New Zealand
Marathon 3 details	Candace Cable-Brooks   United States	Sherry Ann Ramsey   United States	Itsuko Maeda   Japan
Marathon 4 details	Connie Hansen   Denmark	Tracy Miller   United States	Kay McShane   Ireland

1992

At the 1992 Games in Barcelona, the number of events for men was cut to six: three for wheelchair athletes, and three for visually impaired athletes. The number of events for women was further reduced, down to one, for wheelchair athletes.

Men's events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon B1 details	Carlo Durante   Italy	Tofiri Kibuuka   Norway	Steve Brooks   Canada
Marathon B2 details	Stephen Brunt   Great Britain	José Ortiz   Spain	Paul Collet   France
Marathon B3 details	Mark Farnell   Great Britain	Anton Sluka   Czechoslovakia	Timo Pulkkinen   Finland
Marathon TW1 details	Heinrich Koeberle   Germany	Rainer Kueschall   Switzerland	Giuseppe Forni   Switzerland
Marathon TW2 details	Clayton Gerein   Canada	Christoph Etzlstorfer   Austria	Greg Smith   Australia
Marathon TW3–4 details	Heinz Frei   Switzerland	Claude Issorat   France	Jeddie Schabort   South Africa

Women's event

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon TW3–4 details	Connie Hansen   Denmark	Jennette Jansen   Netherlands	Lily Anggreny   Germany

1996

At the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta, the current categorisation system was introduced. Seven events were held for men, and one for women.

Men's events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon T10 details	Harumi Yanagawa   Japan	Carlo Durante   Italy	Nicolas Ledezma   Mexico
Marathon T11 details	Waldemar Kikolski   Poland	Tomasz Chmurzynski   Poland	Francisco Perez   Spain
Marathon T12 details	Anton Sluka   Slovakia	Mark Farnell   Great Britain	J. Onofre da Costa   Portugal
Marathon T42–46 details	Javier Conde   Spain	Joseba Larrinaga   Spain	Mark Brown   Great Britain
Marathon T50 details	Heinrich Koeberle   Germany	Bart Dodson   United States	Tim Johansson   Sweden
Marathon T51 details	Brent McMahon   Canada	Clayton Gerein   Canada	Patrick Cottini   United States
Marathon T52–53 details	Franz Nietlispach   Switzerland	Kazuya Murozuka   Japan	Heinz Frei   Switzerland

Women's event

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon T52–53 details	Jean Driscoll   United States	Kazu Hatanaka   Japan	Deanna Sodoma   United States

2000

The same number of events (seven for men, one for women) were maintained at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney.

Men's events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon T11 details	Carlos Amaral Ferreira   Portugal	Robert Matthews   Great Britain	Carlo Durante   Italy
Marathon T12 details	Waldemar Kikolski   Poland	Stephen Brunt   Great Britain	Moises Beristain   Mexico
Marathon T13 details	Ildar Pomykalov   Russia	Anton Sluka   Slovakia	Roy Daniell   Australia
Marathon T46 details	Javier Conde   Spain	Mark Brown   Great Britain	Michael Keohane   United States
Marathon T51 details	Alvise de Vidi   Italy	Heinrich Koeberle   Germany	Thorsten Oppold   Germany
Marathon T52 details	Clayton Gerein   Canada	Christoph Etzlstorfer   Austria	Thomas Geierspichler   Austria
Marathon T54 details	Franz Nietlispach   Switzerland	Krige Schabort   South Africa	Heinz Frei   Switzerland

Women's event

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon T54 details	Jean Driscoll   United States	Kazu Hatanaka   Japan	Wakako Tsuchida   Japan

2004

At the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, the number of events for men was reduced to five (one for totally blind athletes, one for visually impaired athletes, and three for wheelchair athletes), while a single wheelchair event was maintained for women.

Men's events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon T11 details	Yuichi Takahashi   Japan	Carlos Ferreira   Portugal	Andrea Cionna   Italy
Marathon T13 details	Ildar Pomykalov   Russia	Roy Daniell   Australia	Linas Balsys   Lithuania
Marathon T51 details	Alvise De Vidi   Italy	Stefan Strobel   Germany	Edgar Navarro   Mexico
Marathon T52 details	Toshihiro Takada   Japan	Thomas Geierspichler   Austria	Clayton Gerein   Canada
Marathon T54 details	Kurt Fearnley   Australia	Kelly Smith   Canada	Tomasz Hamerlak   Poland

Women's event

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon T54 details	Kazu Hatanaka   Japan	Wakako Tsuchida   Japan	Cheri Blauwet   United States

2008

At the 2008 Games in Beijing, the number of events for men was again reduced, down to four (one for visually impaired athletes, one for upper limb amputees, two for wheelchair athletes), while a single women's wheelchair event was maintained.

Men's events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon T12 details	Qi Shun   China	Elkin Serna   Colombia	Ildar Pomykalov   Russia
Marathon T46 details	Mario Santillan   Mexico	Tito Sena   Brazil	Walter Endrizzi   Italy
Marathon T52 details	Thomas Geierspichler   Austria	Hirokazu Ueyonabaru   Japan	Toshihiro Takada   Japan
Marathon T54 details	Kurt Fearnley   Australia	Hiroki Sasahara   Japan	Ernst van Dyk   South Africa

Women's event

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon T54 details	Edith Hunkeler   Switzerland	Amanda McGrory   United States	Sandra Graf   Switzerland

2012

At the 2012 Games in London, the number of events for men was once more reduced, down to three (one for visually impaired athletes, one for upper limb amputees, one for wheelchair athletes), while a single women's wheelchair event was maintained.

Men's events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon T12 details	Alberto Suarez Laso   Spain	Elkin Serna   Colombia	Abderrahim Zhiou   Tunisia
Marathon T46 details	Tito Sena   Brazil	Abderrahman Khamouch   Spain	Frederic Van den Heede   Belgium
Marathon T54 details	David Weir   Great Britain	Marcel Hug   Switzerland	Kurt Fearnley   Australia

Women's event

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon T54 details	Shirley Reilly   United States	Shelly Woods   Great Britain	Sandra Graf   Switzerland

2016

Further information: Athletics at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

In Rio de Janeiro, Three men's marathons and two women's marathons were contested on 18 September 2016.

2020

Further information: Athletics at the 2020 Summer Paralympics

The 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the marathon events held on 5 September 2021. The men's marathon was held in the T12, T46, and T54 classifications, and the women's marathon in T12 and T54.

2024

Further information: Athletics at the 2024 Summer Paralympics

Four marathon events, T12 and T54 for both men and women, were contested on 8 September 2024 in Paris.

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States  (USA)	9	8	10	27
2	Canada  (CAN)	9	4	6	19
3	Switzerland  (SUI)	5	5	5	15
4	Germany  (GER)	5	3	3	11
5	Japan  (JPN)	4	6	3	13
6	Great Britain  (GBR)	4	6	2	12
7	Australia  (AUS)	4	3	3	10
8	Spain  (ESP)	3	3	1	7
9	Italy  (ITA)	3	1	3	7
10	France  (FRA)	2	5	1	8
11	Denmark  (DEN)	2	4	0	6
12	Mexico  (MEX)	2	1	5	8
13	Poland  (POL)	2	1	2	5
14	Russia  (RUS)	2	0	1	3
15	Austria  (AUT)	1	3	2	6
16	Brazil  (BRA)	1	1	1	3
	Portugal  (POR)	1	1	1	3
	Sweden  (SWE)	1	1	1	3
19	Norway  (NOR)	1	1	0	2
	Slovakia  (SVK)	1	1	0	2
21	China  (CHN)	1	0	0	1
22	Colombia  (COL)	0	2	0	2
23	New Zealand  (NZL)	0	1	3	4
24	Ireland  (IRL)	0	1	2	3
	South Africa  (RSA)	0	1	2	3
26	Czechoslovakia  (TCH)	0	1	0	1
	Israel  (ISR)	0	1	0	1
	Netherlands  (NED)	0	1	0	1
29	Belgium  (BEL)	0	0	1	1
	Finland  (FIN)	0	0	1	1
	Lithuania  (LTU)	0	0	1	1
	Tunisia  (TUN)	0	0	1	1
Totals (32 entries)		63	66	61	190

Notes

1. "Medallists by Event: Athletics: Men's Marathon", International Paralympic Committee
2. "Medallists by Event: Athletics: Women's Marathon", International Paralympic Committee
3. "A-Z of Paralympic classification", British Broadcasting Corporation
4. "Medallists by Event: Athletics: Men's Marathon", International Paralympic Committee
5. "Medallists by Event: Athletics: Women's Marathon", International Paralympic Committee
6. "Medallists by Event: Athletics: Men's Marathon", International Paralympic Committee
7. "Medallists by Event: Athletics: Women's Marathon", International Paralympic Committee
8. "Medallists by Event: Athletics: Men's Marathon", International Paralympic Committee
9. "Medallists by Event: Athletics: Women's Marathon", International Paralympic Committee
10. "New York / Stoke Mandeville 1984 Paralympic Games: Athletics: Men's Marathon 1A", International Paralympic Committee
11. "New York / Stoke Mandeville 1984 Paralympic Games: Athletics: Women's Marathon 5", International Paralympic Committee