Tatyana McFadden

Tatyana McFadden

Tatyana McFadden at the 2009 Paralympic World Cup
Personal information
Nationality	American
Born	(1989-04-21) April 21, 1989 Leningrad, RSFSR, Soviet Union
Residence	Clarksville, Maryland, USA
Sport
Sport	Running
College team	University of Illinois Wheelchair Basketball and Wheelchair Track and Field teams
Medal record Women's Track and Field (T54) Competitor for  United States Paralympic Games Gold 2012 London 400m - T54 Gold 2012 London 800m - T54 Gold 2012 London 1500m - T54 Silver 2004 Athens 100m - T54 Silver 2008 Beijing 200m - T54 Silver 2008 Beijing 400m - T54 Silver 2008 Beijing 800m - T54 Bronze 2004 Athens 200m - T54 Bronze 2008 Beijing 4x100m - T53-54 Bronze 2012 London 400m - T54 IPC World Championships Gold 2013 Lyon 100m - T54 Gold 2013 Lyon 200m - T54 Gold 2013 Lyon 400m - T54 Gold 2013 Lyon 800m - T54 Gold 2013 Lyon 1,500m - T54 Gold 2013 Lyon 5,000m - T54

Tatyana McFadden (born April 21, 1989^[1]) is a Russian-born United States Paralympian athlete competing in the category T54. McFadden has won 10 Paralympic medals in multiple Summer Paralympic Games and is training for the 2014 Winter Paralympics in sit-ski competitions.^[2]

Biography

McFadden was born in St. Petersburg, Russia on April 21, 1989. She was born with spina bifida, a congenital disorder that paralyzed her from the waist down. Her birth mother abandoned her in an orphanage that was too poor to afford a wheelchair for her, so she walked on her hands for the first six years of her life. The doctors told her she was so sick that she had very little time to live. While in the orphanage she met Deborah McFadden, who was visiting Russia as a commissioner of disabilities for the US Health Department. Deborah adopted Tatyana as a single mother, and took her to live in Baltimore.^[1][3][4][5]

McFadden took up a variety of sports while growing up to strengthen her muscles: first swimming, then gymnastics, wheelchair basketball, sled hockey and track and field. McFadden attends the University of Illinois studying for a degree in Human Development and Family Studies, and is on the University of Illinois Wheelchair Basketball team.^[5][6]

Competition

McFadden began racing at the age of eight.^[4] Competing in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece, she won a silver medal in the women's 100 metres - T54 event, a bronze medal in the women's 200 metres - T54 event, finished fifth in the women's 400 metres - T54 event and went out in the first round of the women's 800 metres - T54 event. She also competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China, where she won a silver medal in the women's 200 metres - T54 event, a silver medal in the women's 400 metres - T54 event, a silver medal in the women's 800 metres - T54 event, a bronze medal in the women's 4 x 100 metre relay - T53-54 event and finished sixth in the women's 100 metres - T54 event.

Until 2009, McFadden specialized in shorter distance sprints. She entered the Chicago Marathon in 2009 as a lark.^{[citation needed]} Unexpectedly, she won, finishing so soon that her mother didn't have her camera ready to record the victory. That was the first of a series of marathon victories for her, including New York in 2010, Chicago in 2011 and London in 2011.^[5]

McFadden's coach at the University of Illinois is Adam Bleakney, himself a veteran wheelchair racer.^[5]

Tatyana and her sister Hannah McFadden competed in the same Paralympic final (100m - T54 in London 2012).^[7]

McFadden became the first athlete to win six gold medals at a championships during the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon. She claimed gold in every event from the 100 meters through to the 5,000 meters.^[8][9] McFadden also won the Boston, Chicago, London, and New York marathons in 2013.^{[10][11][12][13]} This made her the first person - able-bodied or otherwise - to win the four major marathons in the same year.^[12][13][14] She also set a new course record for the Chicago Marathon (1 hour, 42 minutes, 35 seconds).^[12]

Activism

McFadden had difficulty competing at high school. Atholton High School, would not allow her to race at the same time as able-bodied runners, with officials saying her racing chair created a safety hazard and gave her an unfair advantage (as the best wheelchair racers are noticeably faster than runners over long distances). She competed in separate wheelchair events at high school meets, meaning that she would circle around an otherwise empty track by herself, which embarrassed her. In 2005 Tatyana and Deborah McFadden filed suit against the Howard County Public School System and won the right for her to race at the same time as the runners starting in 2006, though her score would not be counted for her team.^[3][4]

Her legal victory led to its own controversies, though. In 2006, one of her Atholton teammates lost her victory in the 1600 meters at the state championships after McFadden was ruled to have been acting as a "pacer" for her, by encouraging her rather than racing on her own. And in 2008, McFadden collided with a rival runner from Bishop McNamara High School after a 200-meter race, inflicting bruises and cuts to McFadden's legs and making her miss her conference title meet from the injuries.^[15]

McFadden's lawsuit is credited for the eventual passage of the Maryland Fitness and Athletics Equity for Students with Disabilities Act, requiring schools to give students with disabilities the opportunity to compete in interscholastic athletics.^[5][15] She was also a leader of an ultimately unsuccessful effort against a 2012 Russian law to prohibit adoptions of Russian children by American parents.^[16]

Achievements

The women's wheelchair race at the 2011 London marathon (left to right: Sandra Graf, Shelly Woods, Tatyana McFadden, Amanda McGrory).

• 2013: Became the first athlete to win six gold medals at a championships during the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon. She claimed gold in every event from the 100 meters through to the 5,000 meters.^[8][9]
• 2013: Won the women's wheelchair divisions of the Boston, Chicago, London, and New York City marathons in 2013.^{[10][11][12][13]} This makes her the first person - able-bodied or otherwise - to win four major marathons in the same year.^[12][13][14] She also set a new course record for the Chicago Marathon (1 hour, 42 minutes, 35 seconds).^[12]
• 2012: 100m T54; 400m T54; gold medal, 800m T54; 1500m T54; marathon - Paralympic Games, London, United Kingdom
• 2012: Won the 2012 Open Women’s Division of the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division of the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia with the time of 23:53:08.
• 2011: Won the 2011 Open Women’s Division of the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division of the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia with the time of 23:39:26.
• 2010: Won the Open Women’s Division of the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division of the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia with the time of 23:47:66.
• 2008: Silver medal, 200m T54; silver medal, 400m T54; silver medal, 800m T54; bronze medal, Women's 4 x 100m relay T53/T54 - Paralympic Games, Beijing, China
• 2007: Two gold medals, 400m, 800m - Visa Paralympic World Cup, Manchester, United Kingdom
• 2007: First place, 200m (WR) - Boiling Point Wheelchair Track Classic, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
• 2007: Two first-place finishes, 200m, 800m - U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships, Atlanta, Ga.
• 2007: Three second-place finishes, 200m, 400m, 800m - Meet in the Heat, Atlanta, Ga.
• 2006: Gold medal, 100m (WR); Two silver medals, 200m, 400m,) - IPC World Championships, Assen, The Netherlands
• 2005: Gold medal, 100m; Two silver medals, 400m, 800m; Bronze medal, 200m - IPC Open European National Championships, Espoo, Finland
• 2004: Silver medal, 100m; Bronze medal, 200m - Paralympic Games, Athens, Greece
• 2003: Member of U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Team

References

External links

• Tatyana McFadden's profile on paralympic.org
• Tatyana McFadden's Official Website
• USA Paralympic Team Profile