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Champion wheelchair racer Madison de Rozario returns to the track on Sunday in one of her pet events, the 800m (T53), as she searches for a maiden Tokyo Paralympics medal.
De Rozario is the world record holder for the event and won silver in the 2016 Rio Games and gold at the 2019 Dubai World Championships.
She blew out a few cobwebs yesterday with a 5th in the 5000m (T53) and will be joined on Sunday by teammate Angie Ballard, competing at her sixth Paralympics.
Both women have medals from previous campaigns so it would be nice to add to those tallies.
De Rozario wasn’t sure how her 5000m result would translate into her two remaining track events – the 800m on Sunday and the 1500m on Monday.
“Who knows… because I won’t meet many of those distance girls in the 800 but I will meet a few in the 1500. So I’ll watch some videos from their most recent races and cobble that together with what they did today with my coach Lou (Sauvage),” she said.
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Isis Holt, silver medallist from the 100m (T35) on Friday, is meeting seven from that race in the nine-strong field for Sunday’s 200m Final, including gold medallist Zhou Xia (China).
Sam Carter (400m T54), Chad Perris (100m T13), Scott Reardon (100m T63) and Robyn Lambird (100m T34) also make their first appearances in Tokyo on Sunday.
Carter and Lambird are Paralympic rookies, while Perris, aka the ‘White Tiger’, has a podium finish to defend, having taken bronze in this sprint in Rio. He followed that up with another bronze at the 2017 London World Championships and a silver two years later in Dubai.
Reardon has similar goals at stake. He is the reigning Paralympic champion for his leg amputee class.
There is only one field event final on Sunday’s program for the Australians – mother of four, 46-year-old Sarah Edmiston in the Discus (F64) for athletes with leg impairments.
Edmiston suffered permanent nerve damage in a water-skiing accident. But in her Australian debut at the 2017 World Championships in London she took bronze and then upgraded to silver at the 2019 worlds in Dubai.
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Athletics – Day 3 (all time AEST)
Discus Throw (F64) Final: Sarah Edmiston – 11.17am
100m (T34) Final: Robyn Lambird – 11.25am
800m (T53) Heats: Madison de Rozario Ht1 – 11.36am; Angie Ballard Ht2 – 11.45am
400m (T54) Heats: Sam Carter Ht1 – 12.43pm
100m (T13) Heats: Chad Perris Ht1 – 1.28pm
200m (T35) Final: Isis Holt – 8.44pm
100m (T63) Heats: Scott Reardon Ht1 – 10.41pm
By: Margie McDonald, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 29 August 2021
