Paris 2024 Paralympics | They will give us chills: Manuela Schär
Manuela Schär owes a lot to her attitude, which is always positive, to her training and to her sense of commitment. As a paraplegic, she has won the world’s most important marathons. She’s one of the best athletes in the world of adaptive sport.
Manuela Schär was born in 1984 in Switzerland. At the age of 9, while she was playing on a swing set, it collapsed on top of her. Her back was seriously injured and she became paraplegic. This was the start of an intensive stint of rehab sessions. A real challenge for her.
Before her accident, Manuela Schär was already a runner. Therefore, it came naturally to her to join a club for athletes in wheelchairs. Little by little, her training sessions became more frequent, and she started competing. At the same time, she kept up with her business studies.
The first medals
As a student, Manuela Schär participated in her first Paralympic games in Athens in 2004. She won 2 medals: the first, a silver for the 200m dash, the second, a bronze for the 100m.
The Swiss then decided to take a break from sports and to focus on her studies. Nevertheless, the Beijing Paralympic games of 2008 remained on her radar, where thanks to her fighting spirit, she won a bronze medal in the 200m dash, beating her personal record.
From disappointments to a dream of gold come true
Her selection in 2012 for the London Paralympic games ended in disappointment for her with no medals. The positive side was that it forced her to open her eyes. She decided to change her coach and to focus on long distance races. 2013 saw her become Marathon World Champion. That was the first of many victories in World championships.
But Rio 2016 was another disappointment for Manuela Schär. However, she kept learning from her defeats and fine-tuned her tactical choices. These choices really paid off as in Tokyo she won the holy grail: 3 silver medals and 2 gold in the 800m and the marathon. Seventeen years after her first paralympic medals, it was a powerful achievement, and a dream come true!