Elite wheelchair women's press conference

Ahead of the 45th edition of the London Marathon, Eden Rainbow-Cooper, Sammi Kinghorn and Catherine Debrunner talk about their hopes for Marathon Day.  

Eden Rainbow-Cooper became the first British woman to win the Boston Marathon, in April 2024, which came just weeks after she finished as runner-up at the Tokyo Marathon. She made her Paralympic debut at the 2024 Paris Games where her best result was seventh in the 1,500m.  

On how she is feeling ahead of the 2025 TCS London Marathon:  

“The last 12 months have been interesting for me. I got injured last year, so it has kind of all been intertwined with recovery and racing and training. My Paralympics, I kind of toppled over in the 5K final, which sadly took me out of the marathon and two other races. But I am back, did Boston on Monday pain-free and I feel good. I’m really excited to be back in London and I am just going to go for it.”  

On the conditions forecast for Sunday:  

“I agree [with the other elite wheelchair athletes] it’s perfect, I prefer it when it is a little bit warmer, so for us the hour and a half to hour and forty-odd minutes it is going to take us, feels like it is going to be a nice little progression in temperature for us.”  

On how she manages racing two Majors in six days, having finished fourth in the Boston Marathon on Monday 21 April:  

“I am still figuring out the Boston-London double. It is a lot of stress on the body, including the travel. Last year I got it wrong, this year we have changed the recovery and I’m making sure I’m having a bit more downtime and hopefully it’s a better fit.   

“But I think everybody’s recovery is individual, what they prefer, but the most important thing is that we feel ready mentally and physically to race on Sunday.”  

On the importance of the Mini London Marathon to her career:  

“I did the Mini Marathon quite a few times and never won it! That is something that sticks in my mind. I used to love it, there were so many junior athletes when I went and there was this real sense of community of para sports being mixed in and being there.   

“To be honest, I probably wouldn’t be in road racing if it wasn’t for the Mini Marathon and how incredibly we were treated by them as junior athletes and we still feel that love today, at the marathon, as well.”  

“Kinghorn is the reigning Paralympic 100m champion in the T53 category, one of five medals she won at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, alongside four silver medals in the 400, 800m, 1,500m and mixed 4x100m relay. She will be making her TCS London Marathon debut, her first marathon since 2018 when she was fourth in the Commonwealth Games Marathon on the Gold Coast.” 

On returning to the marathon distance after seven years:  

“I competed really well at the Paralympics; I was really chuffed with it [winning the 100m] but I just wanted a bit of a down year and apparently to me that meant let’s do marathons!  

“I just want to enjoy racing again and feel like there is no pressure on me; I want to go out there and have fun. I have always loved training and racing on the roads and I love hills. Everyone has always said to me the crowds in London are incredible, so that’s really the reason. My first race was the Mini London Marathon, so I thought it would be pretty cool to do the full one.” 

On training for 100 metres compared to a marathon:  

“There are a few more miles a week now! On the easy rolls, I am like, ‘Ah, these are really boring.’ I am not good at doing recovery rolls. I have been trying to learn to recover because I like just going fast! It’s been a learning curve, but I’ve been enjoying it and I am excited to race.”  

On her memories of the Mini London Marathon:  

“It was my first-ever race and I had no idea what to expect. I was training up in Scotland and I knew three other wheelchair racer – I think at the time I thought that was it, there was only us. Then I remember going down to London, it was my first time in London as well, and I got on the Start Line and there were all these other athletes, and they were all really strong.   

“I remember just thinking this is really cool and really fun. I loved the race, every single minute of it, I remember at one point I was waving at the crowd and at the end my coach showed me a photo of me and said, ‘You’re not supposed to be waving at everyone!’ It was just such a buzz and was just so exciting and I remember thinking this is what I want to do, this is cool.”  

On the conditions forecast for Sunday:  

“It is not going to be too warm, I guess, as we start earlier than everyone else, so it’s probably going to be pretty nice for us.”  

On whether she will race more marathons:  

“I am excited for Sunday; I’ll see how it feels and how I go. I’m hoping that I am going to go out there and enjoy it – and if I enjoy it, I’m definitely going to want to do more.”  

Debrunner cemented herself as the world’s best women’s wheelchair racer at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, where she won an incredible five gold medals in the 400m, 800m, 1,500m, 5,000m and marathon distances. She is also the world record holder over the marathon distance with her time of 1:34:16 set at the BMW Berlin Marathon in 2023. She has won the London Marathon twice on three visits to the British capital and holds the course record of 1:38:24 which she set on her debut in 2022.  

On how she tops an incredible Paralympics:  

“I know I set the bar pretty high. It was a crazy 12 months. Especially Paris, I will never forget that in my whole life. The Paralympics itself were amazing, what Paris gave to us with full stadiums; sometimes there were more spectators than at the Olympic Games and that is exactly what we all want for our sport.   

“Here in London, it is the same: we are carried by the crowd and I love to be in London. I have good memoires of London and looking at the field we have this Sunday is amazing. I am sure it is going to be a very interesting race.”  

On her early years racing and the huge influence Marcel Hug had on her career:  

“My first race was in Nottwil for the junior Swiss nationals and I remember I’d only had my chair for some months, not much, and I was so nervous to be on the Start Line, knowing someone is going to ‘shoot’ and then we go against each other. I didn’t know how my chair should go straight, so that was my biggest problem, actually.   

“I was really lucky to have Marcel [Hug] nearby; he grew up in a village very close to mine and he was training already with Paul [Odermatt] and I saw him and he was really important for me to go into the sport. I think if Marcel had done tennis, maybe we would now both be in tennis.   

“I think it’s really important to have role models, like I had with Marcel and Manuela [Schar] in Switzerland, but also a community like we have in Nottwil, with the Swiss Paraplegic Centre or here in London with the organisers, who really give us this visibility.   

“I remember when I went to my first marathon in felt like another sport. Suddenly there was so much media, so many spectators and I didn’t know that before. It is so amazing we can show our sport to more people.”  

On the conditions forecast for Sunday:  

“I agree with the others, I am really happy it is warm and sunny and since we finish quite quick it is going to be perfect weather in the finish.”  

On how she manages racing two Majors in six days, having finished second in the Boston Marathon on Monday 21 April:  

“I can answer this question better after the race! It is my first time doing both in one week. I think it’s quite a big challenge, even for us if we recover quicker than a runner. I think it is quite a big thing to travel from America to here, a little bit jetlagged.   

“I am really curious how I am going to feel in the race. Sometimes I think I feel rested and then I start racing and it feels different, so I hope it is going to be alright. I am sure that my other competitors and the crowd will make it a really good race.”