Back To News
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. ‘Flying’ Strong Strikes Gold, De Rozario Set For Track Return

‘Flying’ Strong Strikes Gold, De Rozario Set For Track Return

‘Flying’ Strong Strikes Gold, De Rozario Set For Track Return
Spread the love

Paralympic champions Madison de Rozario, Evan O’Hanlon and James Turner are among a host of track and field stars in action on Day 2 of the 2023 World Para-Athletics Championships in Paris, after Maria Strong set the tone for a successful Australian campaign with gold in the 100m T72.

Strong, who won a bronze medal at Tokyo 2020 in the Shot Put F33, became the inaugural world champion in the frame running event, recording a time of 17.07 (+0.5).

“I first got on a frame when I was in the second half of my 40s,” Strong said.

“I had never been able to run more than a few steps before that. I tried a race chair, I suck at it. I got on a frame and suddenly, I wasn’t at risk of face planting. I could move reasonably fast. It’s like I’m flying.”

Frame running is not part of the Paralympic Games program, but Strong hopes it will be included soon.

Elsewhere on Day 1, defending world champion and former world record holder Corey Anderson was unable to defend his Javelin F38 title, finishing fifth in the final with 44.89m.

Well shy of his 49.79m seasons best and 58.18m personal best, Anderson’s preparation was hindered by a shoulder injury, leaving him hungry for the Paralympic Games next year.

“My body just wasn’t ready but I’m really keen to just get back in the gym and come back stronger and healthier,” Anderson said.

Five-time Paralympic champion Evan O’Hanlon advanced to the final of the 100m T38 with a season’s best run of 11.31 (+0.1).

O’Hanlon posted the sixth fastest time across the two heats which featured 12 men.

“It’s a bit harder as I get older to keep the confidence up as I used to, so I’m pretty happy to make the final and hopefully I can improve on that,” he said.

Samuel Rizzo came sixth in Heat 2 of the 5000m T54, progressing to tomorrow’s final with a push of 10:31.67. The 22-year-old will add the 5000m T54 final to his already busy schedule, which includes the 800m T54 and 1500m T54.

“I’m excited and nervous but I’ll go out there and give it my best shot,” Rizzo said of the final.

Athletics queen de Rozario returns to track racing on Day 2 when she contests the first of her three events, the 5000m T54 Final, which features the Swiss duo Catherine Debrunner and Manuela Schar.

“Once you get here in this environment, you line up to deliver the very best race you can on the day,” de Rozario said.

“Sometimes you surprise yourself and sometimes it’s exactly what you expect. We tell athletes not to go into races with their previous failures, but I don’t think often enough we tell them not to go in with their successes – it all means nothing.

“I’ve won as an underdog and I’ve lost races I have been expected to win.”

De Rozario has focused on road racing since Tokyo 2020. This will be her first track race since those Games.

Team co-captain Jaryd Clifford burst onto the scene with the 1500m/5000m T13 double at the 2019 World Championships.

“Ever since I was a kid, I remember the words of people like Kurt Fearnley who always said that when you put the green and gold on you’re representing more than yourself. It’s about the Paralympic movement which has done so much for so many people, so I think I can push my body to new levels when I represent Australia,” he said.

Clifford takes on Spain’s Yassine Ouhdadi El Ataby, who pipped Clifford for gold at Tokyo 2020.
Fellow team captain Sarah Walsh will put her new blade to the test in the Long Jump T64 Final, taking on a field of 10, including Dutch T62 world record holder Fleur Jong. Walsh won bronze at the 2019 World Championships.

James Turner will race Heat 1 of the 400m T36 and West Australian sprint duo Rhiannon Clarke and Ella Pardy will race in Heat 1 and Heat 2, respectively, of the 100m T38.

Days after her 18th birthday, Ella Hose takes to the field in the Shot Put F37 Final as Australia’s second youngest team member at the championships. With her eyes set on the Brisbane 2032 Paralympic Games, Hose competes with the goal of learning from the best and building the foundations of her budding career.

Three-time Paralympian Rheed McCracken will be among 12 men battling for eight spots in the 400m T34 Final. It’s the first of three events he’s contesting, also including the 100m T34 and 800m T34.

Watch the World Para Athletics World Championships live on 9Now.

By: Athletics Australia
Posted: 10 July 2023