With a collection of 22 Paralympic medals, 17 World medals, and numerous major marathon victories, Tatyana McFadden stands as a testament to overcoming adversity. Born with spina bifida and living the first six years of her life in a Russian orphanage, McFadden would go on to make her indelible mark in the world of athletics. Despite her physical limitations, that did not prevent her from pursuing her passion for sports.
In 1994, during a work-related trip to Russia, Deborah McFadden, then Commissioner of Disabilities for the U.S. Department of Health, met the young Tatyana at her orphanage. Feeling an inexplicable bond, Deborah adopted McFadden and brought her to the United States, where McFadden began participating in various sports to regain her strength. It was during this period that she discovered her love for wheelchair racing.
McFadden made her Paralympic debut in the 2004 Athens Games at the age of 15, earning two medals and igniting an insatiable drive for more. She competed in subsequent Paralympic games, bagging four medals in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and four more in the 2012 London Games, three of which were gold. In 2013, McFadden made history at the IPC Athletics World Championships, becoming the first athlete to win six gold medals in a single competition.
Seeking further challenges, McFadden joined the professional marathon circuit in 2009, debuting with a win at the Chicago Marathon where she would later set a new course record in 2013 with a time of 1 hour, 42 minutes, 35 seconds. In the same year, she became the first person, regardless of gender or disability, to win the Grand Slam by claiming victories in the Boston, London, Chicago, and New York Marathons. This remarkable achievement was replicated in 2014, 2015, and 2016. She has won the NYC Marathon multiple times between 2010 and 2021, even breaking the women's course record in 2015 by seven minutes and 20 seconds. In fact, her dominance extended to other marathons such as the Boston, Chicago, London, and New York City marathons, making her the first person to bag all four major marathon victories in the same year. McFadden has consistently won the Open Women's Division of the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division of the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta from 2010 to 2021.
Aside from her sporting accomplishments, McFadden also fought and won a legal battle in 2005, allowing her to compete alongside non-disabled runners in high school track events. This lawsuit contributed to the passage of the Maryland Fitness and Athletics Equity for Students with Disabilities Act in 2008, also dubbed Tatyana's Law. McFadden's unrelenting spirit also led her to compete in the Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi in 2014, where she won a silver medal in the 1 km Sprint sitting cross-country skiing event, despite having less than a year of on-snow training.
McFadden's achievements haven't gone unnoticed. In 2015, she was awarded the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability and was named the Best Female Athlete with a Disability at the ESPY Awards in 2016. As recently as 2021, she reclaimed her victory at the Chicago Marathon.
After a successful athletic career, McFadden graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies, and a master's degree in Spring of 2019. Away from her rigorous training, McFadden advocates for a healthy lifestyle through sports and nutrition and mentors youth in her community.
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