Fearnley denied Chicago marathon victory in a photo finish

NSWIS Paralympic star Kurt Fearnley has placed second at the Chicago Marathon with a photo finish showing there to be only a handful of centimetres between the Newcastle native and rival Marcel Hug of Switzerland.

Fearnley had initially been awarded the win, but upon review the result was reversed to hand Hug the victory. The ruling also reversed the finishing order from 2015, where Fearnley was awarded the win over Hug.

A pack of 10 athletes had formed throughout this year’s race, but when the final kilometre commenced it turned into a two-horse race as Fearnley and Hug broke from the pack, heading for the finish line side by side.

In the final 200-metres the lead changed several times, before Hug made a final surge to snatch victory in a 1 hour, 33 minutes. The extremely narrow margin between the pair had Fearnley scratching to remember a closer race, while also praising the form of Hug.

“I’ve had a few wins here and a couple of seconds now but I don’t remember any race being as tight as this one,” Fearnley said told the Australian Paralympic Committee.

“Full credit to Marcel (Hug), he’s been in outstanding form this year and near impossible to beat. I get one more crack in New York in a few weeks and hopefully I’ll be leading through the finish line rather than 10cm before it.”

It’s was the third one-two finish between Fearnley and Hug in Marathon’s this year, this result emulating the Rio Paralympic Games where the Swiss athlete crossed for gold with a one second advantage of the Australian.

With Hug having also won the London Marathon in April, Fearnley said he would try and claw back victory in next month’s New York Marathon.

“I’ve had a great year so far but unfortunately Marcel’s has been that bit better! Second here is nothing to shrug at, I’m happy with the push and now it’s time to rest up and prepare for one last big effort for the year,” Fearnley said.

If Fearnley can pull off victory in the big apple, it will be his sixth New York Marathon victory and second this year after he triumphed in February’s Tokyo Marathon.