Paralympics 2024: Australia’s Madison de Rozario wins marathon silver on final day of competition at Paris Games

China has produced a comprehensive 65-43 win over Canada in the women’s wheelchair basketball bronze medal match.

Coming up, the USA will play the Netherlands for gold.

Another powerlifting podium has been decided, this time in the women’s up to 86kg final.

Brazil’s Tayana Medeiros won with a best lift of 156kg.

China’s Zheng Feifei is second, and Chile’s Marion Alejandra Serrano Guajardo third.

Thanks Natty!

We loved having you along for our Games coverage.

Great Britain’s Charlotte Henshaw has won back-to-back gold medals in the women’s kayak KL2 event, by a big margin.

Her compatriot, and va’a champion at these Games, Emma Wiggs takes silver, and Germany’s Anja Adler has bronze.

Australia’s Susan Seipel finished in fifth spot.

There are only four sports still underway on the final day of the Paris Paralympics, including powerlifting.

And Iran’s Aliakbar Gharibshani has produced a mammoth effort to win gold in the up to 107kg final, with a best lift of 252kg.

Later tonight Australia’s Hani Watson will finally get to taste some action, in the women’s over 86kg final.

Susan Seipel had a good hit out in the semis earlier tonight, to book her place in the women’s kayak single 200m KL2 final.

And in about 10 minutes she’ll be back for the final, where she’s in with a real shot at a medal.

Great Britain’s defending champion Charlotte Henshaw is the favourite for gold.

Fatima Ezzahra El Idrissi has crushed the world record in winning the women’s marathon T12 event.

The Moroccan produced a time of two hours, 48 minutes and 36 seconds to slice almost six minutes of the previous T12 world mark.

From an outsider’s point of view, it looked like Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner cruised to an effortless win in the women’s marathon T54.

The reality was a bit different for the woman who’s collected five golds and a silver in Paris.

“I feel more exhausted than ever in my life,” she said.

“This marathon is really at the edge for us wheelchair racers, especially the 5km cobblestone section up the hill to the Champs-Elysees. 

“I was really afraid I was going to fall because it was so difficult to keep my balance. 

“I’m super exhausted but extremely happy and I can’t believe that I won this super, super tough marathon.”

Debrunner was out on her own from basically the start through to the finish, and she was still processing the emphatic nature of her win.

“Many times I had really big doubts that I could maintain it to the end,” she said.

“I really doubted it a lot, but in the end I made it and I don’t really have the words.”

Wajdi Boukhili has claimed victory in the men’s marathon T12 event.

The Tunisian posted a time of two hours, 22 minutes and five seconds to break the tape and collect the gold.

Spain’s Alberto Suárez Laso (2:24.02) took silver and Moroccan El Amin Chentouf (2:24.35) was the bronze medallist.

Madison de Rozario started these Games as Australia’s flagbearer, alongside swimmer Brenden Hall, and finishes with silver in her pet event, the marathon.

She also won bronze in the 5,000m, but she has revealed that it’s been a challenging time for her, with her dad passing away on the day of the opening ceremony.

“This week’s been a little bit of a blur we’ve just wanted to get to this point,” she told the Nine Network.

“It’s put a lot into perspective going into these Games.

“Not being able to defend that marathon would’ve broken me I think, there was three years that went into that.

“It really throws things into perspective. I’m so much happier with a silver.”

de Rozario said her mum was alongside her in Paris, and she’s now keen to get home to see her sisters.

The 30-year-old has also taken a different approach to these Games, compared to Tokyo, when she won marathon gold.

“I was able to go into Tokyo with that real performance focus,” she said.

“And over the next three years, we built who I am as an athlete, but we put so much focus into who I am as a person.

“And I think going into these ones, it was, ‘how do I race as someone who I’m going to be proud of?'”

de Rozario says as she comes towards the latter stages of her career, it’s that mindset which is now most important to her.

“You have to start a second life after sport and and I want to be able to do that as someone that I’m really proud of, and I think I’ve been able to do that these Games.”

Hi Angela,

It’s a wonderful achievement from de Rozario, thanks for sharing the excitement with us!

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Following the excitement of the women’s and men’s T54 races, we have the athletes in the T12 events still on the marathon course.

In the women’s race, Morocco’s Fatima Ezzahra El Idrissi led the field by five minutes and 31 seconds at the 30km mark.

Tunisia’s Wajdi Boukhili held a 40-second lead after 35km in the men’s race.

Fresh off her bronze medal in the va’a, Susan Seipel is into the final of the women’s kayak single 200m KL2.

It was a top effort from her to win her semifinal to progress to the final which is only an hour away.

Australia’s Madison de Rozario is the silver medallist in the women’s marathon T54.

USA’s Susannah Scaroni gets bronze. 

de Rozario came through 4:23 behind the champion Catherine Debrunner.

The Sydneysider was part of a three-woman chasing pack for the bulk of the race, but with two kilometres left, de Rozario and Scaroni pulled away from China’s Zhou Zhaoqian.

And de Rozario lifted another gear on the home stretch to comfortably take the silver medal, with Scaroni a further 16 seconds behind.

There’s a spirited conversation between the three medallists, and lots of smiles which is great to see.

It’s a huge effort from de Rozario to once again finish on the podium in the marathon.

Debrunner was simply too good, and it’s still hard to believe that she medalled in every event from the 100m through to the marathon in Paris for five golds and a silver!

Madison de Rozario is now in outright second, with Susannah Scaroni six seconds behind her.

At the 40km mark they were just over four minutes behind Debrunner, so we should see them racing towards the finish line soon.

Catherine Debrunner has completed an extraordinary Paralympic campaign, with a supreme performance to win the women’s marathon T54 with a time of 1:41:50.

The Swiss star led from start to finish and was completely in control as she extended her advantage over the field throughout the entire race.

And she’s proven to be the most formidable wheelchair racer in the world right now.

In Paris she’s claimed six medals, including five gold, making the podium in all of her events from the 100m through to the marathon.

There are just seven kilometres left in the women’s marathon T54 and DeBrunner is still setting a cracking pace – she’s 4:07 ahead.

de Rozario will have to fight it out for silver with Scaroni and Zhou.

That trio has stuck together for the bulk of the race, and it will be tough for one of them to miss the podium.