In 2024, he is the holds the world record in the Men's 1500m T46 with a time of 3:36.51 set in 2017. [5][1]
Personal
Roeger was born on 14 May 1988,[6] and is from Langhorne Creek ,[7][8] South Australia.[9] He has a twin brother Chris.[10] He is missing the lower half of his right arm.[7][8][11] He played junior football at the Langhorne Creek Football Club.[7] Growing up, he played basketball, table tennis and cricket.[7] He moved away from there and to Canberra in 2009.[11] In 2012, he was a student at the University of Canberra working on a Bachelor of Communications in Advertising and Marketing.[11]
Athletics
Roeger is a T46 classified athlete, competing in 800 metres,1,500 metres and 5,000 metre events.[7][8][11] He is a member of the Adelaide area Hills District Athletic Club.[8] In 2008, when in Adelaide, he trained with Pete Davis and Marc Fairhead.[8] He has held an athletics scholarship with the Australian Institute of Sport.[11] He started competing in athletics in 1999 when he competed for his high school's cross country team.[8]
At the 2008 Victorian Country Championships, Roeger set a Paralympic A qualifying time of 4:02.04 in the 1500 metres.[8] At the time, this was the second best time ever set in the world.[8] He also set qualifying times in the 800 metres and 5,000 metres.[8] As a twenty-year-old, he represented Australia at the 2008 Summer Paralympics.[7][8] He did not earn a medal at the Games.[7][11] He set a personal best time in the 1,500 metre event,[7] finishing in eighth place,[12] and came 11th place in the final of the 5,000 metres. He did not make the finals in the 800 metre event.[13] He was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in athletics in the 800 metres event.[6][9][11][14][15] His Paralympic training included five gym sessions a week with a focus on leg strength.[11] He competed in the Men's 800m T46 at the 2012 London and but did not medal.[16]
In 2014, Roeger ran almost a five-second 1500 m personal best (3 minutes 51.08 seconds) on 20 March 2014 at the Victorian Milers Club. His time qualified him for the 2014 Australian Athletics Championships.[19][10] His time was just short of the world record, 3:50.2 and the second best time in his class.[10] At the Australian Championships, he took on his coach Philo Saunders, who is a physiologist at the Australian Institute of Sport.[17][10] Also in 2014, he was part of the Australian Sports Commission team that represented Australia at the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge in London, England.[20]
In June 2015 in Boston, United States, Roeger ran 3:48.55 to break the Men's 1500 m T46 world record but it was not ratified as no drug test was available.[23]
At the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, he won the bronze medal in the Men's 1500m T46. After the event, Roeger said "A bronze medal is a bronze medal, I wanted more from myself today but the legs weren't there in the last lap. It's a stepping stone for Rio. This makes me so hungry for gold. It's my dream and it's been my dream for a long time. It's about taking the positives away from this and building on them for next year".[24]
On 12 June 2016, Roeger ran 3:49.08 in the Men's 1500m at the Portland Track Festival to break the Men's 1500m T46 world record. The record was not ratified even though drug testing was undertaken.[25][26]
Australian athletes Michael Roeger (left) and Jaryd Clifford after the medal presentations for the marathon at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
On 4 February 2017 at the inaugural Sydney Invitational, Roeger smashed the T46 1500m world record of 3:50.15 by running 3:46.51. Roeger had previously beaten the world record time but previous times were in unsanctioned events.[27]
On 14 October 2018, in his debut marathon, he finished sixth in the Melbourne Marathon. His time 2:23.31 broke the previous world record of 2:26.44 but it was not ratified. After the race Roeger said "I’m over the moon to get the world record and finish on the MCG. It has been 10 years of work really, it is the third world record in the year, it is a pretty special feeling."[29]
Roeger finished 6th in the Men's Marathon T46 at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, his fourth Paralympics.[31][32] Roeger went into the event as favourite but a stress fracture in his leg in the month leading up to the Games led to a compromised, preparation and training load coming into Tokyo.[33]
Roeger was forced to switch back to the 1500m after the marathon was omitted from the 2024 Paris Paralympics program. In returning to the 1500m, on 24 June 2023 he set a world best time of 3:44.83 at a track meet in Portland, Oregon. The time that beat his current world record will not be ratified as the meet was not sanctioned.[35] At the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships, he won the silver medal in the Men's 1500m T46 in a time of 3:53.89.[36]
In the lead up to the 2024 Tokyo Paralympics in Paris, Roeger won the bronze medal at in the Men's 1500m T46 at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe. His time was 3:50.45. At the 2024 Paris Paralympics, he moved to the 1500m T46 as the marathon was not on the program. He won the silver medal in a time of 3:51.19 after leading most of the race.[37]
Roeger leading the final of 1500m T46 at Paris Paralympics
Kurt Harry Fearnley, is an Australian wheelchair racer, who has won gold medals at the Paralympic Games and crawled the Kokoda Track without a wheelchair. He has a congenital disorder called sacral agenesis which prevented fetal development of certain parts of his lower spine and all of his sacrum. In Paralympic events he is classified in the T54 classification. He focuses on long and middle-distance wheelchair races, and has also won medals in sprint relays. He participated in the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Paralympic Games, finishing his Paralympic Games career with thirteen medals. He won a gold and silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and was the Australian flag bearer at the closing ceremony.
Evan George O'Hanlon, is an Australian Paralympic athlete, who competes mainly in category T38 sprint events. He has won five gold medals at two Paralympic Games – 2008 Beijing and 2012 London. He also represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, winning a silver medal and a bronze medal respectively. In winning the bronze medal in the Men's 100m T38 at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, O'Hanlon became Australia's most successful male athlete with a disability. His bronze medal took him to 12 medals in five world championships – one more than four-time Paralympian Neil Fuller.
Richard Andrew Colman is an Australian Paralympic athlete, competing mainly in category T53 sprint events. He was born with spina bifida. He represented Australia at the four Paralympics - 2004 to 2016.
Mario Santillán Hernández is a Paralympic athlete from Mexico competing mainly in category T46 long-distance events. He is missing his right hand.
The 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships was held in Christchurch, New Zealand from January 21 to 30, 2011. Athletes with disabilities competed, and the Championships were a qualifying event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Madison de Rozario, is an Australian Paralympic athlete and wheelchair racer who specialises in middle and long-distance events. She competed at the 2008 Beijing, 2012 London, 2016 Rio, 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Paralympics, winning two gold, four silver and two bronze medals. She has also won ten medals at the World Para Athletics Championships and four gold at the Commonwealth Games. De Rozario holds the world record in the Women's 800m T53 and formerly in the Women's 1500m T53/54.
Todd Hodgetts, is an Australian athlete on the autism spectrum who won a gold medal at the 2012 London Paralympics and a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, and also competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
Jake Lappin is an Australian para-athlete competing as a wheelchair racer. He represented Australia at the London 2012 Summer Paralympics and at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Rheed McCracken is an Australian Paralympic athletics competitor. He named the 2012 Junior Athlete of the Year as part of the Australian Paralympian of the Year Awards. He represented Australia at the 2012 London Paralympics, 2016 Rio Paralympics, 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and the 2024 Paris Paralympics, where he won three silver and three bronze medals.
Simon Patmore, is an Australian Para-athletics and Para-snowboard competitor. He won a gold medal in the Men's 100m T46 at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games, and bronze in the Men's 200m T46 at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. At the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Games, Patmore won a gold medal in the Men's Snowboard Cross SB-UL and bronze in the Men's Banked Slalom SB-UL.
Matthew Silcocks is an Australian athletics competitor. He was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in athletics. He finished sixth in the 1500m, in a time of 3:59.79.
Sam Harding is an Australian Paralympic athlete and paratriathlete. His classification is T12 and competed in 400m and the 800m events. He represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and 2020 Summer Paralympics in athletics and has been selected to compete in paratriathlon at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Gabriel Cole who has a partially formed left arm, is an Australian Paralympic athletics competitor. He competed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 2012 Summer Paralympics in athletics. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Sam McIntosh is an Australian Paralympic athlete who races in the T52 100m, 200m, and 400m events. He holds 3 Australian National Records and 2 Oceania Records. He represented Australia at the 2012 London Paralympic Games, 2016 Rio Paralympics, 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and the 2024 Paris Paralympics in athletics as well as the 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2023 Para Athletic World Championships.
The 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships was the biggest track and field competition for athletes with a disability since the 2012 Summer Paralympics. It was held in Lyon, France, and lasted from 20 to 28 July. Around 1,100 athletes competed, from 94 different countries. The event was held in the Stade du Rhône located at the Parc de Parilly in Vénissieux, in Lyon Metropolis.
Deon Kenzie is an Australian Para athlete who competes in the T38 (classification) prominently in the 1500m. He has won medals at the 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2024 World Para Athletics Championships including gold in the Men's 1500 m T38 in 2017. He won a silver medal in the Men's 1500 m T38 at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Guy Nicholas Henly is an Australian Paralympic athlete. He currently competes in discus and shot put and has won medals at the 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2023 World Para Athletics Championships. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Jayden Sawyer is an Australian para athlete who competes mainly in the F38 category in throwing events. He won has won gold and bronze medals at the World Para Athletics Championships. He competed at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics.
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James Michael Apsley Turner, is an Australian Paralympic athlete and soccer player with cerebral palsy. He has represented Australia as part of the Australia Paralympic soccer team, the ParaRoos, and was its player of the year in 2013. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, he won the Men's 800m T36 in a world record time of 2:02.39. He won a gold and silver medal at the 2020 Toyko Paralympics. At the 2024 Paris Paralympics, he won two gold medals including a world record in the 400m T36.
↑ Olivia McGrath (15 September 2008). "Cowdrey, O'Hanlon lead medal haul". ABC Local— Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 29 October 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
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