She played football (soccer) in the backyard with her sisters where she would be the goalkeeper but as de Rozario grew up she started to notice the social implications that came with being in a wheelchair.

"You sort of realise all the social implications that come with it and so a big part of what most of us are trying to do now is talk less about the physical difficulties that come with it, and more the social aspect, and how we treat people with disabilities and how that actually impacts people's lives," she said.

At the age of 11 or 12, de Rozario remembers starting her first para-sport, which happened to be wheelchair basketball and tennis. However, she admits that she is horribly uncoordinated so they weren't the sports for her.

She soon enough came across wheelchair racing and loved it immediately despite not being the best when she first started out.

"Racing is it's very technical and even if you've been pushing a wheelchair around your whole life is still very different," de Rozario said.

"So it took me a long time to work out but I just love it from the beginning because it was individual and it was fast."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I really love this sport, guys.

A post shared by Madison de Rozario (@madison.____) on

Since then she's gone on to represent Australia at three consecutive Paralympics since Beijing 2008 coming away with three silver medals. 

Unfortunately, it hasn't been an easy journey to get to this point. 

In 2015, de Rozario took a leap of faith and moved across the country, away from her mum and sisters, to Sydney to take her racing career to the next level.

The funding structure athletes receive is dependent on their metal results. So at a World Championships or Paralympics, whatever an athletes result at that event would dictate the financial support they get until the next world stage event.

The cost of wheelchair racing is quite significant. Just for the frame of the chair alone, it is $4,000 with wheels coming to about $2,500. That's just the base level equipment and doesn't include the costs of travelling to events and accommodation.