“Catherine Debrunner Receives Laureus World Athlete 2022 Award Among Soccer Stars and Sets Goals for 2023 Sporting Year”

The past year was an excellent one for Catherine Debrunner: she set four world records on the track with her racing wheelchair and celebrated victories in her first two marathons in Berlin and London. An incredible range of success. These great deeds and the breadth of their spectrum were decisive for the award of World Sportswoman of the Year by the Laureus Foundation.

Last Monday she received the award in the Pavillon Vendôme in Paris – and she was on the big stage. The other honorees: soccer star Lionel Messi (ARG), sprint world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser Price (JAM), soccer player Christian Eriksen (DEN), freestyle Olympic champion Eileen Gu (CHN) and the Argentine soccer world champion team.

A video clip triggers great emotions

Catherine Debrunner experienced a terrific evening: “This award, this occasion, that’s one of the greatest things you can achieve.” The woman from Thurgau is right. Only a few get to enjoy it. Roger Federer from Switzerland has been the five-time winner so far – plus Marcel Hug from Pfyn, Debrunner’s canton and division colleague, for the disabled athletes. He prevailed for the first time in 2018 and doubled in 2022.

At this year’s Catherine Debrunner awards, the celebrity audience was shown a one and a half minute film about the life and career of the athlete: her career and her rapid and impressive rise to the top of the world summarized in one and a half minutes.

The film about the successful year 2022 not only touched the audience and other world athletes, but also Debrunner himself. «These pictures, this summary was beautiful and very touching.» She became aware of “how magical 2022 was”. And particularly emotional: the statements of their Dutch coach Arno Mul. “I didn’t know anything about it, it was a real surprise,” she says.

“Messi’s modesty impressed me”

The framework of the Laureus celebration and the other great athletes at the event also raised awareness of what was special. “For me, this evening was like the icing on the cake,” says Debrunner. And the Eastern Swiss was amazed at how easily she came into contact with the superstars Messi and Fraser Price. “It made a huge impression on me how relaxed, modest, interested they were.” She was reminded of Roger Federer and his affability.

The Laureus award is a motivational boost for Catherine Debrunner. She also has big plans for 2023. After the top-level sports RS, the track world championships in Paris in mid-July represent the first highlight – with the main goal of defending the title over 400 m. Marathon premieres follow in New York, Chicago and Oita in the autumn.

It has been clear to her since the London marathon at the end of April, when she came third after a three-way battle, that victories should not be taken for granted. “The power density is greater than ever,” says Debrunner, “that makes it exciting.”