Global Wings for Life World Run champion crowned in Dubai

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  • Global Champion of Wings for Life World Run: Aron Anderson.

    Sunday was a truly remarkable day in Dubai, with Sweden’s Aron Anderson completing 92.14 kms in his wheelchair – the highest distance covered out of 155,288 registered participants from 58 countries – to be crowned the new men’s Wings for Life World Run global champion.

    The historic feat was achieved in soaring UAE temperatures as Anderson finished in top spot in the Emirate and globally.

    He, along with thousands of others, helped to raise €6.8m for spinal cord research.

    After the Land Rover Discovery catcher car driven by Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing skipper Adil Khalid caught up with Anderson at 92.14 km, an ecstatic and exhausted Aron said: “Thanks to everybody putting on this race for spinal cord injury. I had cancer when I was seven years old, had surgery in the back and I ended up in a wheelchair. It’s tough to be in a wheelchair sometimes.

    “It’s really, really hard. Thanks to everybody raising money for this, actually making a change. I don’t know if I will be able to walk one day, but that could be pretty cool! Thanks everybody!”

    Wings for Life World Run: Scaling new heights

    • Global run movement began at 11am UTC in 58 countries at 111 locations.
    • 155,288 people took part, with 444 runners at the Dubai stage.
    • 1,431,183km distance covered by runners worldwide - a new record.

    Marc Herremans, Sports Director Wheelchair for the Wings for Life World Run, added: “In a sports wheelchair this is normal, but he did this in a regular wheelchair according to the rulebook – an amazing achievement. It’s important to know that we’re all doing this for spinal cord injury.

    “There are so many people who have tetraplegia and are paralyzed from the neck down. They can’t use their arms like Aron. So he’s racing not only for those who can’t walk, but also for those who can’t use their hands.”

    In Dubai, the female record was broken by Britain’s Emily Waugh, who clocked an impressive 43.01 km, just about doubling Caroline Gutierrez’s (COL) 2016 distance of  21.52.

    To see the full Dubai results, click here.

    Globally, Poland’s Bartosz Olszewski (88.24km) was the men’s runner who achieved the highest distance in Milan, with another Polish athlete, Dominika Stelmach, finishing as the overall female champion after her epic 68.21 km run in Chile.


    Here is a summary of the top results worldwide:

    Global Results MEN: 1. Aron Anderson (SWE) / event in UAE 92.14km, 2. Bartosz Olszewski (POL) / Italy 88.24, 3. Lemawork Ketema (AUT) / Austria 87.16, 4. Giorgio Calcaterra (ITA) / Italy 87.15, 5. Tomasz Walerowicz (POL) / Poland 85.14, 6. Florian Neuschwander (GER) / Italy 83.49, 7. Elov Olsson (SWE) / Sweden 75.05, 8. Anton Rehn (SWE) / Sweden 74.55, 9. Philipp Aigner (AUT) / Netherlands 71.37, 10. Shishov Konstantin (RUS) / Russia (70.39)

    Global Results WOMEN: 1. Dominika Stelmach (POL) / event in Chile 68.21km, 2. Cornelia Moser (AUT)/ Italy 62.37, 3. Vera Nunes (POR) / Chile 62.17, 4. Olesya Nurgalieva (RUS) / Australia 60.97, 5. Elena Nurgalieva (RUS) / Australia 57.92, 6. Alexandra Morozova (RUS) / Russia 57.59, 7. Nathalie Vasseur (FRA) / California USA 57.24, 8. Sophia Sundberg (SWE) / Sweden 55.29, 9. Karen Torrealba (CHI) / Chile 55.16, 10. Nikolina Šustić (CRO) / Great Britain 55.14

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