De Rozario crossed the line in Tokyo in Paralympic record time - one hour 38 minutes 11 seconds - to take home her second gold medal of the Games in the T54 marathon.

De Rozario was in third place at the 35-kilometre split before she made her move into first on a hill near the Olympic Stadium finish. She managed to hold off Swiss athlete Manuela Schaer's charge in the final 500 metres to win by one second.

Prior to the 27-year-old's triumph on Sunday morning in Japan, only Kurt Fearnley had given Australia gold in a marathon event.

"It's probably the greatest thing I've done in my life," de Rozario told Channel Seven.

"I didn't think that would be the result going in. I knew it was a flat course, I was a little intimidated to do another race on the road in Tokyo, particularly in the rain.

"The last time I raced here ... I didn't finish the race at all, I had to pull out. So it's a bit of a different story."

She embraced her coach, Paralympic great Louise Sauvage, after her win. Sauvage said whoever won the final hill would win the race - and it proved to be truth as de Rozario powered into first and held on.

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It was Australia's second women's Paralympic marathon medal after Julie Russell's silver in 1984.

Alongside de Rozario, Eliza Ault-Connell and Christie Dawes finished 13th and eighth respectively in the T54 event in wet conditions.

The race capped Ault-Connell's return to the Paralympic stage after 17 years away and marked Dawes' seventh Games at 41.

In the men's marathon events, Jaryd Clifford crossed in second place to claim his third medal in Tokyo.

Clifford and fellow runner Michael Roeger went into Sunday's marathons holding the world records in their classes but tough rainy and humid conditions added extra challenges.

Clifford held on to second in the T12 marathon to take silver in two hours 26 minutes nine seconds - about seven minutes slower than his WR best - behind Morocco's El Amin Chentouf.

Roeger led the T46 race up until the halfway mark before he dropped back to finish sixth in two hours 34 minutes 45 seconds - about 16 minutes behind his WR time.

The 33-year-old collapsed at the finish line, appearing to be suffering from cramps as officials and Clifton came to his aid following the gruelling 42.2-kilometre effort.

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