‘An all-time great’ – Weir aims to deny Hug in London

Great Britain’s David Weir says he will do “all I can” to stop Swiss great Marcel Hug equalling his record tally of eight London Marathon wins after both athletes were confirmed for this year’s race.

World record holder Hug, a three-time Paralympic Games marathon gold medallist, will bid to win the London Marathon for a sixth consecutive year on Sunday, 26 April.

The 46-year-old Weir, who achieved his most recent victory in London in 2018, said: “Marcel is an incredible athlete operating at the peak of his powers.

The announcement of the elite wheelchair fields at the 2026 London Marathon followed Monday’s unveiling of the elite British men and women participants.

Weir will be joined by fellow Britons Sean Frame, Simon Lawson, Nathan Maguire, Michael McCabe and Johnboy Smith in the men’s wheelchair race.

Eden Rainbow-Cooper competes in the women’s event, alongside another dominant Swiss athlete in Catherine Debrunner, winner of the past two London Marathons.

The London Marathon became the first marathon to award equal prize money to wheelchair and non-disabled elite athletes in 2024.

Hug, the course record holder in London, said: “For me, it is more than a race. It is an organisation that has done so much to put wheelchair racing and us, as athletes, at the very heart of the event.

“It is for this reason that I am proud to have enjoyed the success I have here, and to be one win away from a legend like David Weir is incredible.”

The 40-year-old and Weir are long-time rivals, and the Briton finished runner-up to Switzerland’s Hug in their most recent head-to-head at last year’s New York City Marathon.

Weir’s eight London victories span 16 years, with his first coming in 2002. He finished sixth last year.