MADISON DE ROZARIO
One day Madison de Rozario was a happy four-year-old, playing in her yard and bouncing on a trampoline. The next, she was in hospital with transverse myelitis, a rare autoimmune disease, travelling up her spine. She would never bounce on a trampoline again, but her broad smile and gutsy performances have meant she’s been bouncing into our hearts ever since – especially when she became the first Australian woman to win Paralympic gold for the marathon. It was a finish that saw us screaming over our early morning coffee as Madi fought off Manuela Schaer to cross the line in the pouring rain just one second ahead. The finishing photo is a classic with Madi in shock but Manuela smiling broadly behind her, as if she enjoyed the finish as much as we did.
There was so much to celebrate for Madi who, despite a promising start as a 14-year-old in a borrowed chair winning a silver in Beijing, had never managed a gold before. She scored two at Tokyo, then capped the best year of her career by winning the prestigious New York Marathon in November.
“This is unreal,” she said afterwards, genuinely surprised because she’d only decided to enter the race three weeks earlier, when Australian border restrictions lifted. It was no fluke, however, and she says her tally of victories this year comes down to the hard work she and her mentor and trainer, Paralympic legend Louise Sauvage, have put in on the track.
“We buried ourselves in base work and strength work,” she said, “and it’s paid off, not just here but in Tokyo.”
Madison’s already planning to keep going until Brisbane in 2032, undoubtedly inspired by teammates Christie Dawes and Eliza Stankovic, who are still racing in their 40s.