Michael Roeger


Michael Roeger is an Australian T46 athletics competitor. He competed at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Paralympics in athletics in middle distance running events. He has won one gold and three bronze medals at the IPC Athletics World Championships and a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. He won the gold medal in the Men's T46 marathon at 2019 World Para Athletics Championships held as part of the London Marathon in a world record.

Personal

Roeger was born on 14 May 1988, and is from Langhorne Creek
, South Australia. He has a twin brother Chris. He is missing the lower half of his right arm. He played junior football at the Langhorne Creek Football Club. Growing up, he played basketball, table tennis and cricket. He moved away from there and to Canberra in 2009. In 2012, he was a student at the University of Canberra working on a Bachelor of Communications in Advertising and Marketing.

Athletics

Roeger is a T46 classified athlete, competing in 800 metres,1,500 metres and 5,000 metre events. He is a member of the Adelaide area Hills District Athletic Club. In 2008, when in Adelaide, he trained with Pete Davis and Marc Fairhead. He has held an athletics scholarship with the Australian Institute of Sport. He started competing in athletics in 1999 when he competed for his high school's cross country team.
At the 2008 Victorian Country Championships, Roeger set a Paralympic A qualifying time of 4:02.04 in the 1500 metres. At the time, this was the second best time ever set in the world. He also set qualifying times in the 800 metres and 5,000 metres. As a twenty-year-old, he represented Australia at the 2008 Summer Paralympics. He did not earn a medal at the Games. He set a personal best time in the 1,500 metre event, finishing in eighth place, and came 11th place in the final of the 5,000 metres. He did not make the finals in the 800 metre event. He was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in athletics in the 800 metres event. His Paralympic training included five gym sessions a week with a focus on leg strength. He competed in the Men's 800 m T46 at the 2012 London and but did not medal.
At the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France, he won bronze medals in the Men's 1500m and Men's 5000m T46 events.
In 2014, Roeger ran almost a five-second 1500 m personal best on 20 March 2014 at the Victorian Milers Club. His time qualified him for the 2014 Australian Athletics Championships. His time was just short of the world record, 3:50.2 and the second best time in his class. At the Australian Championships, he took on his coach Philo Saunders, who is a physiologist at the Australian Institute of Sport. 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.
During the Athletics Australia 2014/15 season, he reduced his personal best for the 1500m to 3:50.61. He qualified for the Australian Athletics Championships in Brisbane, Queensland Open 1500m and ran in the heats.
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.
At the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, he won the bronze medal in the Men's 1500 m 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".
On 12 June 2016, Roeger ran 3:49.08 in the Men's 1500m at the Portland Track Festival to beak the Men's 1500m T46 world record. The record was not be ratified even though drug testing was undertaken.
At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, he won the bronze medal in the Men's 1500 m T46.
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.
Roeger was selected to compete at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in London, England but withdrew just prior to the competition due to injury.
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."
At the 2019 London Marathon which was also the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships marathon event, he won the Men's T46 in world record time of 2:22:51 breaking the ratified world record of 2:26.44. After originally being disqualified, he was awarded the silver medal in the Men's 1500 m at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai. His time was 3m:51.99.
In 2018, he has a scholarship with the South Australian Institute of Sport and trains at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.

1500m progression

DistanceTime /
Distance		LocationDate
1500m3:51.08Melbourne20 March 2014
1500m3:50.61Sydney19 March 2015
1500m3:48.55BostonJune 2015
1500m3:49.08Portland12 June 2016
1500m3:46.51
Ratified World Record		Sydney4 February 2017
1500m3:45.63Sydney17 March 2018

5000m progression

DistanceTime /
Distance		LocationDate
5000m14:14.91
WR		Canberra11 March 2016
5000m14:06.56
WR		Gold Coast, Queensland15 February 2018

10000m progression

DistanceTime /
Distance		LocationDate
10000m29:24.19
WR		Melbourne13 December 2018

Marathon progression

Recognition