London Marathon to award equal prize money to wheelchair and able-bodied racers

Wheelchair racers at this year’s TCS London Marathon will compete for the same prize money as able-bodied athletes.

In a significant step for disability sports, the annual event will become the first marathon in the world to offer all entrants parity, meaning the winners of each of the elite races will receive $55,000 (£43,410), with the runner-up taking $30,000 (£23,678) and third-place $22,500 (£17,758).

The move comes after organisers increased the prize pot for wheelchair participants by $54,500 (£43,018) to $308,000 (£243,111), the same as that on offer to non-disabled athletes.

Event director Hugh Brasher said: “We are proud of our history in championing participants with disabilities, from introducing our first wheelchair race in 1983 to hosting the IPC World Championships on multiple occasions and providing a pathway from the Mini London Marathon to the London Marathon and beyond for Paralympic legends such as David Weir.

“We are delighted to continue our commitment to disability sport with this landmark move that ensures the prize money available to our elite wheelchair athletes is exactly the same as for those in the non-disabled elite races.

“We have made great strides in recent years towards our ambition to make the TCS London Marathon the most diverse and equitable marathon in the world and this is another important step towards achieving that goal.”

Eight-time winner Weir will take part in his 25th consecutive London Marathon, where he will go head-to-head with Switzerland’s world number one Marcel Hug.

Weir said: “It’s a very exciting year for me and for wheelchair racing. Again London Marathon has set the bar for parity across the racing divisions.

“This is a huge benchmark for disability sport and I hope other races and sporting bodies can take note.”

Reigning women’s wheelchair champion Madison de Rozario also welcomed the decision and its wider implications for para sport and society in general.

Australia’s De Rozario said: “We often say that sport is a mirror to society, but it can also be the starting point for much larger change, and that’s what the TCS London Marathon is doing here.

“This decision doesn’t just affect the athletes lining up in London in April, it has an overflow effect to not just how every other event values athletes with a disability, but how we view the 15 per cent of the global population living with disability.

“Sport has an enormous responsibility to community and the TCS London Marathon is at the forefront of doing that justice. It is setting an entirely new standard and I can’t wait to see what that means for para sport going forward.

“Knowing that a generation of wheelchair racers are going to get to come into a sport and never question their value or their place is beautiful.”

posted Thursday February 22nd