Introduction
Michael Roeger (born 14 May 1988 ) is an Australian T46 athletics competitor. He competed at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Paralympics in athletics in middle distance running events. He has three bronze medals at the IPC Athletics World Championships. He won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
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 (3 minutes 51.08 seconds) 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.
In 2015, he has a scholarship with the South Australian Institute of Sport.
Recognition
- 2014 - awarded Athletics Australia Male Para-athlete of the Year and his coach Philo Saunders was awarded Australian Sports Commission Para-Athletics Coach of the Year.
- 2015 - University of Canberra Coca Cola Amatil Athlete of the Year and Full Blue Award
- 2015 - nominated Athletics Australia Male Para-athlete of the Year.
- Gaskin, Lee (24 October 2014). "Canberra runner Michael Roeger named national men's para-athlete of the year". Canberra Times. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
- "2015 Blues and Leadership Awards". UC Life! website. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
- "nominees for the 2015 Athlete of the Year Awards". Athletics Australia website. Retrieved 30 March 2016.