LONDON — In a world-first attempt at equality in sport, wheelchair athletes and able-bodied runners will compete for exactly the same prize in Sunday's London Marathon.
This move makes the event the only marathon in the world that awards equal prize money to the winners: $55,000 for first place, $30,000 for second place, and $22,500 for third place. Organizers said they were not aware of any other major competitive event in any sport that had taken similar measures.
Marathon organizers hope that by equalizing the prize pot, it will pave the way for similar offers at other races and sporting events, encourage more athletes to take part in disability sport, and increase participation. He says he wants to remove economic barriers. Equality also extends to gender. Both male and female wheelchair athletes are eligible for equal prize money.
Paralympic athlete Marcel Hug, widely considered the world's best wheelchair racer, supported the decision. Hug will compete in London on Monday, fresh off his record-breaking victory in the men's wheelchair division of the Boston Marathon.
“The London Marathon sets a great, powerful, and courageous example of equality and inclusion that transcends the world of sports and, hopefully, inspires other fields,” Hug told NBC News.
In Boston, the top prize in the wheelchair category was $40,000. In the open category, the non-disabled male and female winners took home more than three times as much, at $150,000.
The 42.2-mile race in London starts south of the River Thames on Sunday morning, crossing Tower Bridge and passing iconic London landmarks such as the Tower of London, the London Eye and Big Ben, before finishing near Buckingham Palace. Arrive. This year's elite wheelchair field features several American athletes, including Daniel Romanchuk, Tatiana McFadden, and Susanna Scaloni.
Also vying for the $55,000 prize is British wheelchair racing star David Weir. He is a six-time Paralympic gold medalist and has won eight times at the London Games, more than any other athlete. Mr. Weir placed third in Boston this year, behind winner Mr. Hug and runner-up Mr. Romanchuk.
Hugh Brasher, event director at the London Marathon, said this movement started in 1983, when the London Marathon hosted its first wheelchair event, and continued through several International Paralympic Committee World Championships. The move is part of an evolution towards greater inclusion of athletes with disabilities. In the British capital.
Romanchuk, 25, who grew up in Maryland, praised the decision to equalize the prize money structure and predicted it would have a “huge impact beyond race day.”
“Equivalent prize money for the London Marathon will help raise awareness of the sport, to reflect the reality that we are professional athletes and we train and compete just like other professional athletes. It helps,” Romanchuk, who was headed to London for the race, told NBC News. “My main hope is that awareness of the sport will increase and more disabled athletes will realize the potential to have an active lifestyle and take part in community running races.”
Another reason it's important to level the economics of the sport is that the high cost of specialized equipment for wheelchair racing often prevents low-income athletes from participating, Romanchuk said. he said. He said prices for adaptive sports equipment start at a few thousand dollars at the entry level, much more expensive than the running shoes that non-disabled athletes need to start competing.
Romanchuk said he first participated in adaptive sports when he was two years old and explained the impact it had on his development and confidence.
“They taught me to focus on what I have, which is my two strong arms, instead of what I don't have,” says Spina Bifida, a birth defect that affects the spinal cord. said Romanchuk, who was born with the disease. “The fact that your legs weren't working properly can never be accepted as a reason for not being able to achieve a certain goal.”
