Madison de Rozario OAM

Madison de Rozario OAM's Biography

Madison de Rozario OAM is an inspiration to anyone she meets and is one of Australia’s leading and most loved Paralympic athletes.

Having first competed at the Beijing Paralympics in 2008 at age 14, Madison hopes to continue racing until the Brisbane Paralympics in 2032.

A world-record holder in the women’s 1500m T53/54, Madison boasts 18 medals (7 gold) spread across the Paralympic, World Championship and Commonwealth games.

She was also named 2020 Paralympics Australia athlete of the year and was awarded a 2022 Medal of the Order of Australia for service to sport as a gold medallist at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.

After a series of stunning gold medal performances in 2018, Madison de Rozario continues to prove why she is one of the most promising young athletes in wheelchair racing. At her Commonwealth Games debut on the Gold Coast, she put the world on notice in the women’s 1500m T54 final, launching a decisive attack with 300m to go to win gold, before pushing to a 13-second lead in the women’s marathon T54 to make it two from two.

Over the following six weeks, Madison became the first Australian to win the elite women’s wheelchair race at the London Marathon, and collected a hat-trick of gold medals at the World Para-athletics Grand Prix in Nottwil, Switzerland, where she equalled the women’s 1500m T53/54 world record set by Tatyana McFadden (USA).

Madison, who was first encouraged to begin wheelchair racing by Australian Paralympics Hall of Fame inductee Frank Ponta, made her Paralympic debut more than 10 years ago as the youngest athlete on the Australian Paralympic Team.

In 2018 Madison was awarded Cosmopolitan Sportswoman of the Year, Outstanding Sporting Achievement for UnioSport Australia and Athletics Australia Female Para-Athlete of the Year. With three Paralympic appearances and three Paralympic silver medals now under her belt, and as the reigning world champion in the women’s 5000m T53, Madison has never been more ready to contest gold at the Paralympic Games.

In 2022 Madison was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for her service to sport as a gold medallist at the Tokyo Paralympic Games 2020.

Speaking Topics Include

My journey to the top of my sport – Wheelchair racing and Olympic Gold Medal