Australian wheelchair racer Madison de Rozario has won her second Commonwealth Games title in five days, taking gold in the T53/54 1500m.
de Rozario was in the lead for most of the race and went over the finish line ahead of fellow Australian Angela Ballard who came in second, and Scotland’s Samantha Kinghorn.
“It was a cagey race and a bit tricky towards the end there,” De Rozario said after the win. “It wasn’t what I was expecting and it was definitely surprising but I’m happy to come away with that one.”
“I’ve not done a lot of track work and the track is so technical and so you get out of the habits of it. I was trying to come in from the marathon this weekend and I definitely made a few mistakes out there but it all came together and I’m really happy about that.”
de Rozario’s win in the 1500m marked her fourth Commonwealth Games gold medal, the most of any Australian para athlete. Just days ago, she won gold in the marathon event.
Four years ago on the Gold Coast, she also took the gold in the marathon and 1500m.
de Rozario described the marathon in Birmingham as one of the toughest she’d ever competed in, and said she was still feeling it when she took on the 1500m.
“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.