First for Australia as De Rozario snatches win
Madison de Rozario claimed Australia’s first women’s wheelchair title at the Virgin Money London Marathon this morning as she snatched victory from four-time champion Tatyana McFadden in 1:42:58 with her US teammate, Susannah Scaroni, third.
“That was amazing,” gleamed the elated De Rozario later. “I’m very surprised to be honest. I didn’t think I’d have enough for the final sprint.
“The roads are so rough. Working through that was hard and my back started to cramp up pretty badly about halfway through so I’m just really happy I had enough left to come home strong.”
De Rozario is the new star on the marathon block. The 24-year-old arrived straight from her success at the Commonwealth Games last weekend where she won gold in the 1500m and T54 marathon.
She also clinched a 2017 World Championship gold over 1500m in London and two track silvers at the Rio Paralympics. But she was considered an outsider over this longer distance, having only completed seven full marathons in her career so far.
Meanwhile, McFadden, with her abundance of marathon crowns, came straight from winning a fifth Boston title, and was keen to regain her title after missing out on last year’s race for health reasons.
At halfway even Manuela’s Schär’s course record from last year looked on the cards with the three big names, McFadden, Schär and two-time winner Amanda McGrory, among the leaders.
But it was De Rozario who seized the moment, turning into The Mall ahead of McFadden and Scaroni with Schär left to take fourth and McGrory fifth.
For her part, McFadden was content with her second place after a mixed year.
“I’m so happy to be back out there with the girls,” said the 29-year-old. “I’m 85 per cent there health-wise, so I’m really pleased with the result today. Due to health, I wasn’t allowed to fly last year so it was a good day to get second in a very tough sprint finish.
“Maddie really sneaked in there; you have to watch her,” McFadden laughed. “She sneaked in on my inside which I wasn’t expecting, so I have to watch that going forward.”
Britain’s Jade Jones finished seventh in a commendable 1:50:04 just a week after winning a Commonwealth gold at para-triathlon and a bronze in the Gold Coast marathon.
