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. 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:

• 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.

Results by Games

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. In women's event 5, there were only two competitors, both from Mexico. Both reached the finish line.

Men's events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon 1A	Heinrich Koeberle  West Germany
Marathon 1B	J. Matsson  Schweden	Peter Schmid  Schweiz	Ronan Rooney  Irland
Marathon 1C	Alan Dufty  Australien	D. Wallen  Vereinigte Staaten	Eduardo Monsalvo  Mexiko
Marathon 2	Heinz Frei  Schweiz	Paul Clark  Kanada	Graham Condon  Neuseeland
Marathon 3	André Viger  Kanada	Gregor Golombek  West Germany	R. Sampson  Kanada
Marathon 4	Rick Hansen  Kanada	Jean Francois Poitevin  Frankreich	R. Minor  Kanada
Marathon 5	Mel Fitzgerald  Kanada	B. Hedrick  Vereinigte Staaten	Tom Foran  Vereinigte Staaten

Women's events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon 2	J. Schiff  Vereinigte Staaten	Patricia Hill  Neuseeland	Dora Garcia  Mexiko
Marathon 3	G. Beyer  West Germany	Julie Russell  Australien	D. Smith  Great Britain
Marathon 4	J. Randles  Australien	Kay McShane  Irland	S. Norman  Vereinigte Staaten
Marathon 5	Juana Soto  Mexiko	E. Belmont  Mexiko

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	Heinrich Koeberle  West Germany	Rainer Kueschall  Schweiz	Bart Dodson  Vereinigte Staaten
Marathon 1B	Serge Raymond  Kanada	Jan-Owe Mattsson  Schweden	Clayton Gerein  Kanada
Marathon 1C	John Brewer  Vereinigte Staaten	Alan Dufty  Australien	Johann Kastner  West Germany
Marathon 2	Marc Quessy  Kanada	Paul Clark  Kanada	Michael Trujillo  Vereinigte Staaten
Marathon 3	André Viger  Kanada	Urs Scheidegger  Schweiz	Phil Carpenter  Vereinigte Staaten
Marathon 4	Jean Francois Poitevin  Frankreich	Farid Amarouche  Frankreich	Rafael Ibarra  Vereinigte Staaten
Marathon 5-6	Jonathon Puffenberger  Vereinigte Staaten	Tom Foran  Vereinigte Staaten	Georg Schrattenecker  Österreich
Marathon A1–3/A9/L1–2	Mustapha Badid  Frankreich	Philippe Couprie  Frankreich	Ted Vince  Kanada
Marathon B1	Joerund Gaasemyr  Norwegen	David Jakubovich  Israel	Carlos Roberto Sestrem  Brasilien
Marathon B2	Stephen Brunt  Great Britain	Paul Collet  Frankreich	David Mills  Neuseeland
Marathon B3	Carlos Talbott  Vereinigte Staaten	Mark Farnell  Great Britain	Wieslaw Miech  Polen

Women's events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon 2	Tami Oothoudt  Vereinigte Staaten	Ann Walters  Vereinigte Staaten	Patricia Hill  Neuseeland
Marathon 3	Candace Cable-Brooks  Vereinigte Staaten	Sherry Ann Ramsey  Vereinigte Staaten	Itsuko Maeda  Japan
Marathon 4	Connie Hansen  Dänemark	Tracy Miller  Vereinigte Staaten	Kay McShane  Irland

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	Carlo Durante  Italien	Tofiri Kibuuka  Norwegen	Steve Brooks  Kanada
Marathon B2	Stephen Brunt  Great Britain	José Ortiz  Spanien	Paul Collet  Frankreich
Marathon B3	Mark Farnell  Great Britain	Anton Sluka  Czechoslovakia	Timo Pulkkinen  Finnland
Marathon TW1	Heinrich Koeberle  Deutschland	Rainer Kueschall  Schweiz	Giuseppe Forni  Schweiz
Marathon TW2	Clayton Gerein  Kanada	Christoph Etzlstorfer  Österreich	Greg Smith  Australien
Marathon TW3–4	Heinz Frei  Schweiz	Claude Issorat  Frankreich	Jeddie Schabort  Südafrika

Women's event

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon TW3–4	Connie Hansen  Dänemark	Jennette Jansen  Niederlande	Lily Anggreny  Deutschland

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	Harumi Yanagawa  Japan	Carlo Durante  Italien	Nicolas Ledezma  Mexiko
Marathon T11	Waldemar Kikolski  Polen	Tomasz Chmurzynski  Polen	Francisco Perez  Spanien
Marathon T12	Anton Sluka  Slowakei	Mark Farnell  Great Britain	J. Onofre da Costa  Portugal
Marathon T42–46	Javier Conde  Spanien	Joseba Larrinaga  Spanien	Mark Brown  Great Britain
Marathon T50	Heinrich Koeberle  Deutschland	Bart Dodson  Vereinigte Staaten	Tim Johansson  Schweden
Marathon T51	Brent McMahon  Kanada	Clayton Gerein  Kanada	Patrick Cottini  Vereinigte Staaten
Marathon T52–53	Franz Nietlispach  Schweiz	Kazuya Murozuka  Japan	Heinz Frei  Schweiz

Women's event

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon T52–53	Jean Driscoll  Vereinigte Staaten	Kazu Hatanaka  Japan	Deanna Sodoma  Vereinigte Staaten

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	Carlos Amaral Ferreira  Portugal	Robert Matthews  Great Britain	Carlo Durante  Italien
Marathon T12	Waldemar Kikolski  Polen	Stephen Brunt  Great Britain	Moises Beristain  Mexiko
Marathon T13	Ildar Pomykalov  Russland	Anton Sluka  Slowakei	Roy Daniell  Australien
Marathon T46	Javier Conde  Spanien	Mark Brown  Great Britain	Michael Keohane  Vereinigte Staaten
Marathon T51	Alvise de Vidi  Italien	Heinrich Koeberle  Deutschland	Thorsten Oppold  Deutschland
Marathon T52	Clayton Gerein  Kanada	Christoph Etzlstorfer  Österreich	Thomas Geierspichler  Österreich
Marathon T54	Franz Nietlispach  Schweiz	Krige Schabort  Südafrika	Heinz Frei  Schweiz

Women's event

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon T54	Jean Driscoll  Vereinigte Staaten	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	Yuichi Takahashi  Japan	Carlos Ferreira  Portugal	Andrea Cionna  Italien
Marathon T13	Ildar Pomykalov  Russland	Roy Daniell  Australien	Linas Balsys  Litauen
Marathon T51	Alvise De Vidi  Italien	Stefan Strobel  Deutschland	Edgar Navarro  Mexiko
Marathon T52	Toshihiro Takada  Japan	Thomas Geierspichler  Österreich	Clayton Gerein  Kanada
Marathon T54	Kurt Fearnley  Australien	Kelly Smith  Kanada	Tomasz Hamerlak  Polen

Women's event

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon T54	Kazu Hatanaka  Japan	Wakako Tsuchida  Japan	Cheri Blauwet  Vereinigte Staaten

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	Qi Shun  China	Elkin Serna  Kolumbien	Ildar Pomykalov  Russland
Marathon T46	Mario Santillan  Mexiko	Tito Sena  Brasilien	Walter Endrizzi  Italien
Marathon T52	Thomas Geierspichler  Österreich	Hirokazu Ueyonabaru  Japan	Toshihiro Takada  Japan
Marathon T54	Kurt Fearnley  Australien	Hiroki Sasahara  Japan	Ernst van Dyk  Südafrika

Women's event

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon T54	Edith Hunkeler  Schweiz	Amanda McGrory  Vereinigte Staaten	Sandra Graf  Schweiz

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	Alberto Suarez Laso  Spanien	Elkin Serna  Kolumbien	Abderrahim Zhiou  Tunesien
Marathon T46	Tito Sena  Brasilien	Abderrahman Khamouch  Spanien	Frederic Van den Heede  Belgien
Marathon T54	David Weir  Great Britain	Marcel Hug  Schweiz	Kurt Fearnley  Australien

Women's event

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Marathon T54	Shirley Reilly  Vereinigte Staaten	Shelly Woods  Great Britain	Sandra Graf  Schweiz

2016

Main articles: Athletics at the 2016 Summer Paralympics – Men's marathon and Athletics at the 2016 Summer Paralympics – Women's marathon

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Vereinigte Staaten (USA)	9	8	10	27
2	Kanada (CAN)	9	4	6	19
3	Schweiz (SUI)	5	5	5	15
4	Deutschland (GER)	5	3	3	11
5	Japan (JPN)	4	6	3	13
6	Great Britain (GBR)	4	6	2	12
7	Australien (AUS)	4	3	3	10
8	Spanien (ESP)	3	3	1	7
9	Italien (ITA)	3	1	3	7
10	Frankreich (FRA)	2	5	1	8
11	Dänemark (DEN)	2	4	0	6
12	Mexiko (MEX)	2	1	5	8
13	Polen (POL)	2	1	2	5
14	Russland (RUS)	2	0	1	3
15	Österreich (AUT)	1	3	2	6
16	Brasilien (BRA)	1	1	1	3
	Portugal (POR)	1	1	1	3
	Schweden (SWE)	1	1	1	3
19	Norwegen (NOR)	1	1	0	2
	Slowakei (SVK)	1	1	0	2
21	China (CHN)	1	0	0	1
22	Kolumbien (COL)	0	2	0	2
23	Neuseeland (NZL)	0	1	3	4
24	Irland (IRL)	0	1	2	3
	Südafrika (RSA)	0	1	2	3
26	Czechoslovakia (TCH)	0	1	0	1
	Israel (ISR)	0	1	0	1
	Niederlande (NED)	0	1	0	1
29	Belgien (BEL)	0	0	1	1
	Finnland (FIN)	0	0	1	1
	Litauen (LTU)	0	0	1	1
	Tunesien (TUN)	0	0	1	1
Totals (32 entries)		63	66	61	190