A Multiple Major Champion Heads to Cape Town: Manuela Schär’s Next Start Line

Manuela Schär has spent most of her life in motion. Long before she became one of the most accomplished wheelchair marathoners of her generation, sport was simply how she moved through the world.

“I was always interested in sports, as long as I can remember,” she says. Growing up in Switzerland, she ran constantly, until a serious injury at the age of nine abruptly reshaped her relationship with movement. Shortly after her accident, she was introduced to wheelchair racing, an introduction that would quietly redirect the course of her life. “That’s how everything started,” she says.

She began racing at around ten or eleven, initially without long-term ambition. “I started wheelchair racing as a hobby, just to be able to do sports and be included in a team.” What began as participation slowly became commitment. As she grew older, the training became more focused, the competition more demanding. “Then we got more and more serious,” she recalls. Although she experimented with other sports, wheelchair racing remained the constant. “I tried different sports, but I always stuck with wheelchair racing.”

Schär’s early years were spent on the track, racing short distances and developing the speed and technical precision that would later define her success. She competed internationally at a young age, making her Paralympic debut in Athens in 2004, an early marker of a career that would stretch across decades.

By the time she arrived at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, expectations were high. The experience, however, proved pivotal in an unexpected way. “London was a big disappointment,” she says. “That’s when I changed a lot of things.” Those changes were decisive. She changed coaches and shifted her focus away from sprinting toward middle and long distance racing, a move that required patience and a willingness to rebuild.

Her first marathon followed in 2013, at a small race in Italy run in relentless rain. “It was pouring the whole time,” she says. That race qualified her for the World Championships marathon, which became only her second attempt at the distance. She won it. “I became world champion in my second marathon.”

The marathon, she says, felt like a reset rather than a continuation. “I really enjoyed this new distance because it felt like a different career, like a whole new competition.” Her third marathon was her first major, and with it came entry into a circuit defined by scale, professionalism, and depth of competition. “It makes so much sense for our sport to race marathons,” she says, noting that road racing reveals the full spectrum of skill required in wheelchair racing. “Sometimes it makes more sense than the track.”

Success at the majors did not come immediately. For several years, Schär was consistently on the podium but unable to secure a win. “I wasn’t sure if it was possible for me,” she admits. The breakthrough came first in Berlin, followed by a defining victory in Boston, where she won in record time. “That was really unexpected,” she says. “It was one of the best sports moments of my career.” Those wins were the beginning of a historic run. Between 2018 and 2019, Schär won ten consecutive marathons, including a clean sweep of all six World Marathon Majors in 2019, setting a marathon world record of 1:35:42 in the process.

Cape Town has been on Schär’s radar for years, both as a race and as a place. “I really love South Africa,” she says. “I was there a few years ago on vacation by myself, and since then I love it.” In the past, the timing made participation difficult, with the race falling too close to Berlin and Chicago. The move to May changed that. “It makes it so much easier for me, especially because I’m not doing track races anymore.”

As she prepares for her first Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, Schär is not chasing a specific time. “It’s really hard to predict,” she says. Wind, surface, rain, and elevation all matter, particularly on an unfamiliar course. “There are so many factors.” Instead, her focus is on execution. “My main goal is to feel like I did my best and that I had a good day when I cross the finish line.” She knows the course will demand strength. “I want to be ready for a hilly course.”

Preparation, for Schär, extends beyond data. Course profiles offer clues, but not certainty. “The profile on paper doesn’t tell you how it really feels,” she says. She prefers to speak with athletes who have raced the course before, understanding that plans, especially on a first attempt, are provisional at best. “Usually it goes out the window as soon as the race starts.”

Schär is equally thoughtful about how wheelchair racing is presented to the public. Visibility alone is not enough. “It’s amazing when we have fair time on TV and people can really see how our sport looks,” she says, but she believes understanding is what sustains interest. “The best coverage is when commentators can explain the tactics, the racing chair, and what we need in different conditions.” She has seen real progress in recent years at major marathons, crediting the involvement of former athletes for helping audiences better understand the sport.

Asked what advice she would give to athletes new to wheelchair racing, her answer is direct. “Be patient,” she says. The sport is deeply technical, from seating position and gloves to setup and technique, and progress takes time. “It’s a process,” she explains. “It’s not an easy sport to start, but once you reach that level, it’s a great sport.” For her, wheelchair racing also represents something larger. “It’s a great example of how big events like marathons can be inclusive.”

That inclusivity, she believes, must be protected. Advances in technology have made racing chairs faster and lighter, but also significantly more expensive. Schär races in a full carbon chair custom built to her body, a reality she acknowledges with concern. “We don’t want this sport to become something only rich people can do,” she says. For wheelchair racing to thrive, accessibility and fairness must remain central. “It should be open to everybody.”

Schär arrives in Cape Town as one of the most decorated wheelchair marathoners the sport has seen, a three-time Series Champion at the World Marathon Majors, a 10-time Paralympic medallist, and the current holder of the marathon world record. Her career spans more than twenty years, shaped by adaptation, discipline, and an unwavering commitment to racing at the highest level.

As the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon continues its own evolution on the global stage, welcoming an athlete of Schär’s calibre to the start line is both a statement and an opportunity. With her experience, her record, and her clarity of purpose, Manuela Schär brings not only competitive credibility, but also perspective. We look forward to welcoming her to Cape Town, and to seeing her take on the course with the same resolve that has defined her career.