Professional Wheelchair Field
Male Wheelchair Athletes
Rafael BotelloSpain
Age: 30
Botello holds multiple Spanish track and road records. He achieved top-five finishes in marathons in Durban, Paris, and Seoul. After identical 1:37:38 times in Oensingen (7th) and London (8th) this year, Botello looks to better his 2007 ninth-place showing in New York.
Josh CassidyCanada
Age: 24
Cassidy has been ranked first in Canada and among the top five in the world as a wheelchair racer for the past three years, and he competed in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. He's also a professional illustrator who earned a degree in illustration at Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.
Kurt FearnleyAustralia
Age: 28
Fearnley holds the ING New York City Marathon course record (1:29:22, 2006) and is the three-time defending champion. At the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, he took the gold medal in the marathon, silvers at 800 and 5000 meters, and bronze at 1500 meters. Born with sacral agenesis, Fearnley graduated from Charles Sturt University with degrees in education and human movement. This year so far, he's won the Paris and London marathons.
Heinz FreiSwitzerland
Age: 51
Frei's 1:20:14 is the fastest wheelchair time ever achieved in a flat-course marathon. He also holds world records from 10,000 meters (20:25.90) to 100 kilometers (3:38:50). He has won the Hamburg Marathon 12 times. He suffered paralysis in a sports accident in 1975, and has since won 12 Paralympics gold medals and 12 World Championships gold medals.
Josh GeorgeUnited States
Age: 25
George won the Chicago Marathon in 2003, 2004, and 2006. He has set world records at 100, 400, and 800 meters, and he competed in seven track and field events at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. He suffered permanent paralysis when he fell from a 12th-floor window at age 4. This year so far, he's won Grandma's Marathon and the Gasparilla Distance Classic 15K.
Aaron GordianMexico
Age: 45
Gordian was the runner-up in New York in 2006 and 2007; he's also finished third once and fifth twice. He was fourth in the Paralympic Games Marathon in Beijing last year and third in the 2008 Peachtree 10K road race in Atlanta. Gordian has made two Mexican Paralympic teams (also in 2000); he trains in Phoenix, Arizona.
Marcel HugSwitzerland
Age: 23
Hug is on a hot streak in 2009, with four major short-course victories. In his win at last year's Padova
Marathon, he recorded one of the fastest wheelchair times ever -- 1:21:23. He placed third at the 2008 real,- Berlin Marathon after posting top-five finishes in the 400 meters, 800 meters, and 5000 meters at the Beijing Paralympics. Born with spina bifida, Hug has won national wheelchair titles at distances from 100 meters to 10,000 meters.
Denis LemeunierFrance
Age: 44
Lemeunier won the Flora London Marathon in 2001. He earned bronze medals in the marathon and 10,000 meters at the Athens Paralympics in 2004. Lemeunier is in charge of activities for athletes with disabilities in Brittany, France. This will be his third consecutive start in the ING New York City Marathon, where he has finished ninth (2008) and eighth (2007).
Saul MendozaMexico
Age: 42
Mendoza was named Mexico's Athlete of the Century in 2000. He is a two-time champion of the ING New York City Marathon (2001, 2004), and he has compiled streaks of 10 wins at the Lilac Bloomsday Run 12K (1998-2007) and nine at the BolderBOULDER 10K (1998-2006). He's set world records at 1500 meters (2:55) and 5000 meters (9:35) and was the 2000 Sydney Paralympic 1500-meter gold medalist. This will be his eighth ING New York City Marathon appearance.
Roger PuigboSpain
Age: 31
Unable to finish in his 2006 debut due to equipment problems, Puigbo returned in 2007 and finished seventh. He fought the severe headwinds last year to take fifth. Puigbo became a paraplegic after a bicycle accident at age 14. He has won the Seville Marathon for three straight years. He refines precious stones for a jewelry manufacturer.
Krige SchabortSouth Africa
Age: 46
Schabort won back-to-back ING New York City Marathon titles in 2002 and 2003 and was the runner-up in 2004 and 2007. He's won the Honolulu Marathon seven times, and he was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame for that event. He was on the South African Paralympic Team in 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004. Schabort began racing in 1989 after losing his legs in a bomb explosion while serving in the South African military in Angola.
Masazumi SoejimaJapan
Age: 39
Soejima set the Japanese record for the wheelchair marathon with his win in Seoul in 2007. Also that year, he became the first Japanese winner of the Boston Marathon. Currently on a streak of runner-up performances in major marathons this past year (Boston, Oensingen, Chicago, Berlin), Soejima will have extra incentive to continue his rise toward the top in New York: He was third in his 2007 debut and second last year.
Ernst Van DykSouth Africa
Age: 36
Van Dyk is a Boston Marathon legend, having won the race for the past two years -- and six more before that. A master of daring and super-fast downhill racing, Van Dyk achieved a time of 1:18:27 in Boston in 2004 that remains the fastest ever recorded, although Boston's net-downhill course makes it unacceptable for record purposes. Van Dyk won the ING New York City Marathon in 2005 and has also been second, third, and fourth.
David WeirGreat Britain
Age: 30
Weir is the world record-holder at 1500 meters and at 5K. He has won Paralympic championships at 800 meters and 1500 meters and four London Marathon titles. He races for Kingston AC & Polytechnic Harriers and is coached by Jenny Archer. He started racing when he was 8, and at age 16 he placed seventh in the 100 meters at the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta.
Additional pro entrants:
Richard Colman, Australia
Matt Davi, USA
Tomasz Hamerlak, Poland
Peter Hawkins, USA
Geoff Kent, USA
James Lilly, USA
Jordi Madera, Spain
Tony Nogueira, USA
Choke Yasuoka, Japan
Alfonso Zaragoza, Mexico
Female Wheelchair Athletes
Christine Dawes Australia
Age: 29
Dawes placed third in the ING New York City Marathon 2008. She has been concentrating on short-course events this year; she is the Australian record-holder at 1500 meters and 5000 meters on the track. A car accident in 1990 left Dawes a paraplegic. She was named the Young Paralympian of the Year in 1996, and she's coached by her husband, Andrew Dawes.
Sandra Graf Switzerland
Age: 40
Graf is currently #1 in the International Paralympics Committee's world rankings for 2009. She took the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games marathon. She won the London and Padova marathons last year and is a three-time third-place Boston Marathon finisher. In 2006, she won the real,- Berlin Marathon. She set a 5000-meter world record in 2004. She'll be competing in her sixth ING New York City Marathon this year.
Sandra Hager Switzerland
Age: 24
Hager finished eighth in last year's ING New York City Marathon. She began her wheelchair-racing career in 2002 and won the World Under-21 Championship at 1500 meters in 2005. Last year she won the real,- Berlin Marathon. She has concentrated on shorter distances this year, with podium finishes in England (Stoke Mandeville 5K) and Switzerland (Daniela Jutzeler Memorial 5K). Hager became a paraplegic in 2000 after a fall. She works in the land registry office of Rapperswil-Jona in Switzerland.
Edith Hunkeler Switzerland
Age: 37
Hunkeler has won the ING New York City Marathon four times and has set the course record twice, including the current mark of 1:52:38 (2007). She holds the Olympic wheelchair marathon record at 1:39:21. She won the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Marathon by a single second. In 2006, she was nominated for the World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability at the Laureus Sports Awards. She won the Boston Marathon in 2002 and 2006.
Tatyana McFaddenUnited States
Age: 20
Only 20 years old, McFadden is a six-time Paralympics medalist. She won the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 11--her debut at the distance. The race ended in a sprint among the first five women, who were only three seconds apart at the line. McFadden is a sophomore at the University of Illinois and part of the school's prestigious wheelchair-racing program, coached by veteran racer Adam Bleakney. McFadden was born with spina bifida in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was adopted and brought to America when she was 6 years old.
Amanda McGrory United States
Age: 23
The 2006 ING New York City Marathon champion, McGrory is winning nearly everything she starts this year, including three major marathons. At last year's Beijing Paralympics, she won gold at 5000 meters, silver at the marathon, and bronze at 800 meters. Paralyzed at age 5 due to transverse myelitis, she started competitive wheelchair racing in grade school. She's on schedule to graduate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2010 with a degree in psychology.
Shirley Reilly United States
Age: 24
Reilly competed in her first Paralympics (Athens, 2004) when she was only 19 years old. She placed fourth in 2005, third in 2006, and fifth in 2007 at the Boston Marathon. Reilly was born with congenital damage to her spine and is paralyzed from the waist down. A Native American born in Alaska, Reilly grew up in Los Gatos, CA, to be close to appropriate medical facilities. She is an undergraduate at the University of Arizona.
Diane Roy Canada
Age: 38
Roy won three medals on the track at the Beijing Paralympics last year and has turned in a huge number of podium finishes this year. She was the gold medalist in the marathon at the 2006 IPC World Championships. In 2008, she broke her own Canadian record in the marathon by three minutes when she took the bronze at the Oensingen Marathon (1:40:09.1). Roy took up competitive wheelchair racing after a car accident paralyzed her at age 17.
Wakako Tsuchida
Japan
Age: 35
The two-time defending Boston Marathon champion, Tsuchida returns to New York after a seventh-place finish in 2007. She became the first Japanese athlete to win gold medals in both the summer and winter Paralympics when she took gold in the 5000 meters in Athens in 2004; she also took the Paralympic Marathon silver in Athens (2004) and the bronze in Sydney (2000). She is a four-time winner (1999, 2001-2003) of the prestigious Oita International Marathon.
Shelly Woods Great Britain
Age: 23
Woods holds the British wheelchair records at 800 meters, 1500 meters, 5000 meters, and the marathon. At the ING New York City Marathon, she's finished second (2006 and 2007), third (2005), and fourth (2008). On the track, she was the 2007 European Championships bronze medalist at 5000 meters. Woods became paralyzed from the waist down when she fell out of a tree at age 11. She drives a car to and from training sessions and works part-time in the leisure department for her local city government.
