Marcel Hug, also known as the "silver bullet" and widely considered the most dominant wheelchair marathoner of all time, has once again claimed victory in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon -- and in yet another tight race to the finish.
Hug, the most decorated wheelchair marathoner in history, has won the Chicago Marathon four times and just added a fifth to his medal haul with his 2024 finish, continuing his dominance in the city after wins in both 2022 and 2023, where he set back-to-back course records.
Hug battled it out on the course against his biggest rival, Daniel Romanchuk, as well as surprise contender Tomoki Suzuki. Hug and Romanchuk have challenged each other in nearly every Chicago Marathon they have competed in and in several other global races.
"It feels incredible. I'm very, very happy, very satisfied. It was a beautiful day for the marathon today with good conditions, great atmosphere and but for me it was really tough," Hug told NBC Chicago at the finish line. "It was a tactical race. I attacked countless times and then we had a finish sprint and luckily, yeah, I won."
In the last year, Hug has won the New York City Marathon and London Marathon, each for his sixth time. He also won the Boston Marathon for the seventh time. Romanchuk was the runner up for both London and Boston.
Hug is a seven-time Paralympic gold medalist, a five-time silver medalist and a two-time bronze medalist. He's won gold in the World Para Athletics Championships 10 times, too.
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