Roeger Rolls on with Bronze in Kobe as Paralympic Campaign Heats Up

Paralympic star Michael Roeger has tonight added another World Para Athletics Championships medal to his prolific collection, racing to a valiant bronze in the 1500m T46 in Kobe, Japan over a decade after his maiden medal in the event at the 2013 championships in Lyon.

In a credit to his longevity, Roeger (SA, Philo Saunders) laid it all on the line when taking on the race from the starter’s gun, leaving nothing to chance in his bid for his first world title in the event. Clocking 3:50.45, Australia’s oldest team member at 36-years-old could only be topped by Aleksandr Iaremchuk (NPA, 3:48.87) and Hristiyan Stoyanov (BUL, 3:49.54).

Forced to settle for bronze after being unable to maintain his lead with 300m remaining, a measured Roeger turned his attention to Paris having already punched his ticket to the 2024 Paralmypic Games:

“This was a great opportunity three months from the Games to see what the competition is doing and to see what we need to do. I executed the race to the millisecond what we wanted to do, and we came up with a minor medal. I just have to turn the screws up one more notch,” Roeger said.

“I’ve got 3:44 in me, I need to rock up in three months and time trial that. If they can beat me again, well hats off to them again. We learned a lot today and we will move on.”

The result takes Roeger’s World Para Athletics Championships record to seven medals including Marathon T46 gold in 2019, but the seasoned veteran says he would “trade them all back for gold” in the 1500m.

“It’s still a medal for Australia, my family and Langhorne Creek. We work all our lives for these medals and at the end of the day, mine are in the sock drawer at home. One day I will hang them up, but the desire is still fully there to win that gold and sing the bloody national anthem,” Roeger said.

The medal takes Australia’s tally to four for the championships after Vanessa Low leapt to world glory in the Long Jump T63, James Turner secured 400m T36 silver and Mali Lovell raced to 200m T36 bronze – with one day of competition to come at the Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium.

Earlier in the day, Luke Bailey (NSW Andrew Dawes) delivered a slick fourth-place finish in the 100m T54 final with a performance of 14.31 (-0.2), with the Paralympic wheelchair racer demonstrating his versatility when doubling back for the 800m T54 heats – unlucky to be tangled up in a crash but reporting no major injuries after being unable to finish the race.

Bailey was progressed to the final alongside teammate Samuel Rizzo (VIC, Richard Colman) who made amends for his near miss in the 1500m T54 heats earlier in the program – booking his ticket to the 800m T54 final with a push of 1:41.21 as his global resume continues to grow.

The ninth and final day of the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships will be held on Saturday, May 25 and can be watched live and free via Nine’s digital platform, 9now.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 24/5/2024