Catherine Debrunner (born 11 April 1995) is a Swiss athlete competing in the T53 wheelchair division. She won five gold medals at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris including one for the T54 Marathon.
Since winning at her marathondebut in the 2022 Berlin Marathon, she has won 10 times a

World Marathon Majors The World Marathon Majors (WMM) sponsored by Abbott Laboratories is a championship-style competition for marathon runners that started in 2006. A points-based competition founded on seven major marathon races recognised as the most high-profile o ...

. She has competed for Team Switzerland since 2008 and has won multiple World- and European Championship medals, as well as Paralympic Medals.

Early life

Debrunner was born on 11 April 1995 in Mettendorf, Switzerland. Due to a birth defect in her spine, she uses a wheelchair. While attending a sports camp in Nottwil, she met her future trainer and coach Paul Odermatt. Since 2021 she is coached by Arno Mul (NED).

Career on the track

Debrunner made her international debut at the IWAS World Youth Games, New Jersey 2008 where she won 5 gold medals and was presented the "Athlete with International Potential" award. Debrunner made her international senior debut at the

2013 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2013 World Para Athletics Championships, IPC Athletics World Championships was the biggest track and field competition for athletes with a disability since the 2012 Summer Paralympics. It was held in Lyon, France, and lasted from 20 to 28 Jul ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. Her first World Championship medal she won in the T53 200 metres at the

2015 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships were a Paralympic track and field meet organized by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. The event was the 7th edition of what is now known as the World Para ...

, with a time of 30.64.
She qualified for the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

in Rio, where she finished seventh in the Women's 400 metres. Debrunner subsequently took a break from sports to focus on her education before returning to Team Switzerland for the

2019 World Para Athletics Championships The 2019 World Para Athletics Championships was a Paralympic athletics, Paralympic track and field event organised by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from ...

. In Dubai, she earned a gold medal in the Women's 400m T53 and a silver medal in the women's 800m T53 race.
At the

2023 World Para Athletics Championships The 2023 World Para Athletics Championships was a Paralympic track and field meet organized by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was the 10th edition of the event and was held in the Charlety St ...

Debrunner won 4 golds in the 400m 800m, 1500m and 5000m. She also added one silver medal by finishing second behind Sammi Kinghorn. Her first Paralympic Medal Debrunner won in Tokyo 2020 at the Athletics at the 2020 Summer Paralympics – Women's 800 metres T53. She finished 3rd behind Madison de Rozario and Zhou Hongzhuan. Her first Gold medal came in the Athletics at the 2020 Summer Paralympics – Women's 400 metres T53 where she beat Samantha Kinghorn and Zhou Hongzhuan.
She won five gold medals and a silver at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris. Including a gold for the T54 Marathon which she led from start. The Australian Madison de Rozario came second and the American

Susannah Scaroni Susannah Scaroni (born May 16, 1991) is an American Para-athletics, Paralympic athlete. She won the gold medal in the Athletics at the 2020 Summer Paralympics – Women's 5000 metres T54, women's 5000 meters T54 event at the 2020 Summer Paralymp ...

had the bronze medal.

Career on the road

When the 2022 World Championships were cancelled, Debrunner looked for a new challenge. She decided to focus on marathons for the rest of that year. At the 2022

Berlin Marathon The Berlin Marathon (, ) is a marathon event held annually on the streets of Berlin, Germany on the last weekend of September. Held annually since 1974, the event includes multiple races over the marathon distance of , including elite level road r ...

, Debrunner, competing in her first marathon, won the race with a time of 1:36:47, breaking Manuela Schär's streak of five Berlin Marathon wins. She went on to win the 2022 London Marathon a week later.
In 2023, Debrunner set the world record at the 2023 Berlin Marathon with a time of 1:34:16 and made her U.S. race debut in the

2023 Chicago Marathon The 2023 Chicago Marathon was the 45th edition of the annual marathon race in Chicago, held on Sunday, . A Platinum Label marathon, it was the fifth of six World Marathon Majors events that were held in 2023. The race also hosted the age gro ...

in October. During the Chicago marathon, Debrunner set a new course record with a time of 1:38:44. She also won the 2023 New York City Marathon, setting a course record with a time of 1:39:32,
In 2024 she won the

2024 London Marathon The 2024 London Marathon was the 44th running of the London Marathon; it took place on 21 April 2024. The route included notable landmarks Buckingham Palace, Cutty Sark, Tower Bridge and Canary Wharf. 578,374 people applied to take part via a ...

, the 2024 Berlin Marathon and the 2024 Chicago Marathon. In 2025 Debrunner won the 2025 Tokyo Marathon and the 2025 London Marathon and finished 2nd in the

2025 Boston Marathon The 2025 Boston Marathon was the 129th official edition of the Boston Marathon, annual marathon race in Boston, Massachusetts, held on Monday, . It was a World Athletics Label Road Races, Platinum Label marathon, one of seven World Marathon Ma ...

behind

. Debrunner won in 2023 and in 2024 the overall ranking in

. Debrunner holds 9 WPA world records. She holds the 100m T53, 200m T53, 400m T53, 800m T53, 1500m T53/T54 and 5000m T53/T54 on the track. On the road she holds the World Records in 10k, half marathon and marathon.

Laureus World Sportsaward

In May 2023, Debrunner was awarded the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability.
In 2025 Debrunner was also nominated for this award.

Personal bests

: World record

External links

*
Catherine Debrunner
at the

Swiss Paralympic Committee The Swiss Paralympic Committee (; ; ; ) is the National Paralympic Committee in Switzerland for the Paralympic Games movement. It is a non-profit organisation that selects athletes and teams, and raises funds to send Swiss competitors to the Para ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Debrunner, Catherine 1995 births Living people Swiss female wheelchair racers Paralympic athletes for Switzerland Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Paralympics World Para Athletics Championships winners Medalists at the World Para Athletics European Championships Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Paralympic gold medalists for Switzerland Paralympic silver medalists for Switzerland People from Bitburg-Prüm 21st-century Swiss sportswomen