Madison de Rozario,OAM (born 24 November 1993) is an Australian Paralympic athlete and wheelchair racer who specialises in middle and long-distance events. She competed at the2008 Beijing,2012 London,2016 Rio,2020 Tokyo and2024 Paris Paralympics, winning two gold, four silver and two bronze medals. She has also won ten medals (three gold, three silver and four bronze) at theWorld Para Athletics Championships and four gold at theCommonwealth Games. De Rozario holds theworld record in the Women's 800m T53 and formerly in the Women's 1500m T53/54.
De Rozario was born on 24 November 1993 and grew up inPerth, Western Australia.[1] At the age of four, she developedtransverse myelitis, a neurological disease which inflames the spinal cord and which resulted in her wheelchair use.[2]
De Rozario's surname is of Portuguese origin. Her Singaporean-born father is ofEurasian descent[3] and her mother is Australian.[2] She studied Sports Science atMurdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, from 2011 to 2014.[4]
At the2015 IPC Athletics World Championships inDoha, de Rozario won the gold medal in the Women's 800m T54 in 1:53.86. It was her first gold medal at a major international competition.[8] She also won a bronze medal in the Women's 1500m T54 in a time of 3:42.03.[9]
At the2016 Rio Paralympics, de Rozario won two silver medals. She won her first individual medal at the Paralympics with a silver in the Women's 800m T53. In addition, she was a member of the team that won the silver medal in the Women's4 × 400 m Relay T53/54.[10]
In November 2016, de Rozario was awarded the Wheelchair Sports WA Sport Star of the Year.[11]
At the2017 World Para Athletics Championships in London, de Rozario won the gold medal in the Women's 5000m T54, silver medal in the Women's 800m T54 and bronze medal in the Women's 1500m T54.[12][13][14]
De Rozario at the 2012 London ParalympicsDe Rozario at the 2012 London Paralympics
On 22 April 2018, de Rozario made a dramatic last dash sprint and won the2018 London Marathon women's wheelchair title in a time of 1:42.58. She became the first Australian to win the women's wheelchair title.[16]
At the 2019 London Marathon, which was also the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships marathon event, de Rozario won the bronze medal in the Women's T46.[17] At the 2019 Championships track events held in Dubai, she won the gold medal in the Women's 800m T54 and two silver medals – Women's 1500m and 5000m T54.[18][19]
De Rozario with the gold medal she won in the women's T53 800m at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics
De Rozario won the 2021New York City Marathon women's wheelchair race, defeating past championsTatyana McFadden andManuela Schär. She is the first Australian woman, either in wheelchair or open events, to claim victory on the 42 km course.[22]
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