Exhausted but unstoppable: de Rozario dominates Sydney Marathon

Paralympian Madison de Rozario completed a physically and emotionally exhausting few weeks by dominating the Sydney marathon wheelchair race on Sunday.

With only a few days rest since returning from her silver and bronze medal efforts at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, de Rozario finished the race in a time of one hour 54 minutes 10 seconds.

De Rozario’s dominance saw her finish more than 15 minutes ahead of second place getter, and fellow New South Wales Institute of Sport scholarship holder, Christie Dawes.

The 30-year-old, who successfully defended her 2023 Sydney Marathon title, rode an emotional rollercoaster at Paris.

Just hours after she carried the Australian flag at the opening ceremony, De Rozario was informed her father had passed away.

After debating whether to return home, the 30-year-old committed to competing in Paris where she won silver in the marathon and a welcome bronze in the 5000m.

The unstoppable Paralympian admitted to the media she was ‘exhausted.’

“I am exhausted – it’s been a really big week,” de Rozario told The Sydney Morning Herald.

“I’ve done back-to-back marathons before [and] six months ago when I committed to doing the double, that was sort of what was in my mind. I didn’t really factor in how exhausting an entire competition is going to be.

“It’s not just the racing, it’s the mental fatigue and the emotional fatigue of all of that.

“So, the last couple of days trying to mentally get back into the mindset to race was a bit challenging. But it went really well, so I’m really happy.

“These are about 42 of the hardest kilometres that any of us will ever do. The distance itself doesn’t normally level me, but this specific marathon does. It’s a really challenging course that Sydney has, but it’s incredible.”

The men’s wheelchair race was won by Canadian Joshua Cassidy (1:38:35).

NSWIS