Lakatos wins London Marathon

LONDON – Canada’s Brent Lakatos re-enforced his position as a gold medal contender at next year’s Paralympic Games with a victory Sunday in the men’s wheelchair race at the London Marathon held without spectators.

“This probably ranks just behind my Paralympic gold,” Lakatos told Runner’s World after the race. “It’s a great race. The London Marathon is the biggest marathon there is, so to come here against Dave and Marcel, it’s amazing.”

Lakatos, David Weir of Britain, Marcel Hug of Switzerland, Sho Watanabe and Kota Hokinoue of Japan and Jordi Madera of Spain stayed together most of the race.  Lakatos made his move with two laps to go and sprinted to the finish in one hour and 36.04 seconds. Weir and Hug were second and third in the event held on a 2.15 kilometre loop in wet, cold and rainy conditions.

“After the second or third sprint where I pulled away, I don’t even know how in far front I was,” said Lakatos, from Dorval, Que., a seven-time Paralympic Games medallist who added the marathon event to his list of events in 2018. “After that sprint, I was like, ‘I might have a chance here.’ And I did.” 

Lakatos told Athletics Weekly that his skills as a sprinter came in handy for the race.

“This is the type of marathon I like – a sprinter’s marathon with all the accelerations and the slow downs, it gives you the chance to catch your breath for the next sprint. It suited me quite well and I’m really ecstatic with the result.”

The last Canadian to win the London Marathon men’s wheelchair race was Josh Cassidy of Guelph, Ont., in 2010.