Madison de Rozario makes Commonwealth Games history as first Aussie para-athlete to win four gold medals

Australia’s gold haul continues to grow as yet another Aussie athlete secures a historic win at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Just five days after dominating one of the hardest wins of her career, wheelchair racer Madison de Rozario has once again proven she’s a force to be reckoned with as she triumphed in the women’s T53-54 1500-metre race and, in the process, won her fourth Commonwealth Games gold, the most any Australian para-athlete has won.

Her latest win has officially made her an Australian legacy, having her name added to the growing list of Australia’s finest athletes.

Madi de Rozario becomes the first ???????? para athlete to win four gold medals at the Comm Games! ????????????????@CommGamesAUS #ThisIsAthletics #BoldInGold pic.twitter.com/OJMiwss7Di

— Athletics Australia (@AthsAust) August 4, 2022

The 28-year-old clocked a Games record of 3 minutes 53.03 seconds before fellow Australian Angie Ballard stormed in second at a close 3 minutes 53.30 seconds, with Scotlands Samantha Kinghorn placing third.

“That was a cagey race and it got a bit tricky towards the end; I’m happy to come away with that one,” said de Rozario.

“I’ve not done a lot of track work and the track is so technical, you get out of the habits of it.

“I didn’t nail it out there, I made a few mistakes, but it all came together and I was really happy with it.”

 

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Despite securing the win, de Rozario admitted the final stretch of the race proved challenging as she was slowly starting to tire out, but in the end, was able to push through to secure the gold.

“About maybe 600 metres into my warm-up, I was like, ‘Oh no, I’m definitely still feeling those 42kms in the arms today’. So, definitely brought that with me out there,” she said.

What’s even more impressive was that de Rozario’s racing wheelchair had been damaged during the trip to Birmingham and that zip-ties were all that was holding the chair together.

“This chair’s been driven all over the UK to try [to] get it fixed and, and I’ve had so many people come together [to help],” she said.

“Finishing touches this morning on it, so it’s something in the last minute, kind of pulled together.”

De Rozario’s latest wins add to her already impressive gold medal haul after taking home two Commonwealth Games gold medals on the Gold Coast in 2018 for the 1,500m T54 race and the T54 marathon.