Maddie’s marathon mega-victory

Paralympic dual gold medalist and TWT Ryde Sports Foundation (RSF) Sports Star of the Year 2019 Madison de Rozario Madison de Rozario has won the women’s wheelchair race in the 2021 New York City Marathon.

Maddie scored her maiden New York City Marathon title on Sunday morning (Nov 7, 2021) after crossing the line first in 1:51:01. 

She became the first athlete to win Paralympic marathon gold and the TCS New York City Marathon in the same year since Edith Wolf Hunkeler did so in 2008.

“It definitely feels like the next chapter in my career. I think I’ve been trying to become stronger with that marathon distance for quite a long time now,” de Rozario said.

“I’ve never won a marathon like that before and I didn’t realise how stressful it is to be out in front like that because you don’t know how close the next athlete is.”

Maddie, 27, also took Gold at this year’s Tokyo Paralympic Marathon.

“This is unreal,” she said. 

“New York is one that I’ve never had amazing results on. It’s been my least successful event, and my least successful consistently.

“But the two years we weren’t travelling, we buried ourselves in base work and strength work, and it’s paid off, not just here but in Tokyo.”

De Rozario had also previously won the London marathon in 2018 and the World Para Athletics Championships event.

This year marked the 50th running of the New York City Marathon, with the first race in 1970 having 55 finishers. 

The New York City Marathon is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, a series made up of the world’s six largest and most renowned road races – the Tokyo, Boston, London, Chicago, and TCS New York City Marathons.

_{Story courtesy The Weekly Times/Anthony Stavrinos}