Michael Roeger was bold and brave in the way he raced the men's T46 1500m tonight.

He made a statement from the outset, hitting the front and extending the lead to a big margin by the last lap.

He couldn't sustain the effort, ultimately being overtaken by the defending champion Aleksandr Iaremchuk.

Roeger has encountered tough times over the course of his five Paralympics.

He made his debut in Beijing 2008.

Illness thwarted his campaign in London 2012 and he won bronze in the 1500m in Rio.

Then a leg stress fracture in the lead up to Tokyo, where he was a gold medal favourite, saw him finish the marathon in sixth.

With the marathon for his classification removed from the program in Paris he went back down to the 1500m and despite dreaming of gold, can be content with silver.

He spoke to ABC Sport's Ned Hall and reflected on his achievement.

"It's my fifth Games, but I still feel like I'm getting better and to come back and get my second Paralympic medal in the 1500.

"Oh, man the childhood dream of that gold nearly happened today, but I'm super stoked with this silver.

"I've always been known to not be scared or not shy away from a hard pace.

"And if I do that, we'll see who can hang on and, and I think the toughest athletes usually win that way."