Madison de Rozario

Started: She took up wheelchair racing in 2006 in Perth, WA, Australia. (madid.com.au, 18 Dec 2009) Reason: After trying wheelchair basketball and tennis, she was encouraged to take up Para athletics by Australian Paralympian Frank Ponta. "At first I was horrible at everything. I was so uncoordinated. Eventually I tried athletics and I wasn't good to begin with. It's really difficult to get the hang of it, because none of it comes naturally. Even for someone who's used to being in a chair, pushing an actual race chair is a completely different feeling. Mum was like, 'If you want to stop and try something new, we can do that'. But I was stubborn and I was committed." (smh.com.au, 03 Mar 2017; athletics.com.au, 2017) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (theguardian.com, 17 Sep 2021) Milestones: She became the first athlete representing Australia to win four career gold medals in any Para sport at the Commonwealth Games by claiming victory in the women's T53/54 1500m at the 2022 Games in Birmingham, England. (SportsDeskOnline, 22 Aug 2022; abc.net.au, 04 Aug 2022) At age 14 she was the youngest Australian athlete to compete at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. (SportsDeskOnline, 04 Oct 2019; au.news.yahoo.com, 26 Mar 2015) Awards: She and swimmer Brenden Hall were named as flag bearers for Australia for the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (abc.net.au, 12 Jul 2024) She was named Athlete of the Year for 2022 at the Australian Women in Sport Awards. (abc.net.au, 17 Oct 2022; womenshealth.com.au, 16 Oct 2022) In 2022 she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia [OAM]. (paralympic.org.au, 26 Jan 2022) She was named the 2020 Paralympian of the Year and the 2020 Female Athlete of the Year at the Paralympics Australia Awards. (nswis.com.au, 10 Jun 2022) In 2018 she received the Most Outstanding Sporting Achievement award at the Unisport Australia Awards. (news.griffith.edu.au, 05 Dec 2018) In 2015 and 2016 she was named Sports Star of the Year by the Wheelchair Sports Western Australia Association [WSWA]. (wheelchairsportswa.org.au, 23 Nov 2016, 16 Nov 2015) In 2008 and 2010 she was named the Junior Sports Star of the Year by the WSWA. (wheelchairsportswa.org.au, 02 Sep 2011) Additional Info: BARBIE DOLL In 2020 she was among several female athletes to be part of toy doll Barbie's 'Shero' series. She had a personalised doll designed in her honour, which was revealed on International Women's Day. "It was a lot of communication at first, just trying to like get the doll perfect. You know, with the race chair and all the measurements, and then the actual doll and all the features. I think younger me would have never believed it. That I, personally, would be a doll. But that someone that looks like me, would be so visible. So, honestly, it really is an amazing, amazing experience. The whole thing." (paralympic.org, 06 Mar 2020) BEIJING EXPERIENCE She made her Paralympic debut at age 14, two years after taking up wheelchair racing, at the 2008 Games in Beijing. "I actually wasn't supposed to be at Beijing. One of the girls fell pregnant so she dropped out and I was the fill-in. In hindsight, I think the fact I was the sub made me race better because there weren't any expectations. Without the pressure, I was mostly competitive with myself." (elle.com.au, 10 Apr 2018) EDUCATION In 2018 she started a bachelor's degree in business at Griffith University in Australia. (thegriffithcollective.com, 04 May 2020; elle.com.au, 10 Apr 2018)