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Five-time Paralympian Marcel Hug will be racing for a record-extending sixth TCS New York City Marathon title after winning his fifth and breaking the course record last year. In 2022, he tied Tatyana McFadden and Kurt Fearnley for the most wheelchair division titles in event history. He took the tape in 1:25:26, smashing the previous course record of 1:29:22 set by Fearnley in 2006. The course-record bonus for the professional wheelchair division had been raised to $50,000, making the wheelchair division bonus equal to the open division bonus.

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 Fearnley in a sprint finish to win by six hundredths of a second.

Last year, Hug also won the Tokyo, Berlin, London, and Chicago Marathons, breaking the course record in the latter two, en route to winning the Abbott World Marathon Majors Wheelchair Series for the fourth time. Already this year, he has won the Tokyo, Boston, London and Berlin Marathons, breaking the course records in both Tokyo and Boston. He also picked up three gold medals at the World Para Athletics Championships in July in Paris.

In 2021, Hug won five Abbott World Marathon Majors races. He won four gold medals total 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.

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