Disabled Orphan Becomes One of the World’s Fastest Women!
Tatyana McFadden has recently become the fastest woman to qualify for the 7th Paralympics. Her career spans 20 years with her debut in the 2004 Paralympics in Athens. During this period she has won a remarkable panoply of 20 Paralympic medals, out of which 8 are gold medals. And all this was achieved in the face of tremendous challenges.
Born with spina bifida, she grew up paralyzed waist down and abandoned in a Russian orphanage. Later disability activist Debbie McFadden adopted her sending her to the US. It was then she had access to a wheelchair, At the age of 8 she became interested in racing using the same. Since then her rise has been meteoric. Let’s dive into the details of this inspiring athlete.
Tatyana McFadden’s Early Life
Tatyana McFadden was born in Leningrad on April 21, 1989, with spina bifida, which paralyzed her from the waist down. After her birth mother abandoned her in an orphanage without a wheelchair, she walked on her hands for six years. Doctors doubted she would survive long, but a visit from Deborah McFadden, a U.S. disabilities commissioner, changed her fate. Deborah and her partner Bridget O’Shaughnessy adopted Tatyana, bringing her to Baltimore.
Tatyana says that she liked Deborah instantly. Deborah gave Tatyana a wheelchair and this changed her fate in the years to come. Growing up, McFadden engaged in various sports to strengthen her muscles, including swimming, gymnastics, wheelchair basketball, sled hockey, and track and field. She attended the University of Illinois, studying Human Development and Family Studies, joined Phi Sigma Sigma, and played on the university’s wheelchair basketball team.
Paralympic champ
Tatyana’s parents enrolled her in sports programs by the age of eight to build her strength. She tried many sports, but she quickly fell in love with wheelchair racing. Her powerful arms brought her immediate success in this sport. “The moment I sat in that racing chair, I knew it was for me,” she says. “It was something that I never felt before: freedom.”
“The moment I sat in that racing chair, I knew it was for me, It was something that I never felt before: freedom.”
Tatyana McFadden
In 2004, at 15, Tatyana made her Paralympic debut in Athens. She was the youngest member of Team USA and returned with silver and bronze medals. Her success fueled her hunger to become the best.
Rising through ranks
At the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, she earned four more medals. In 2012, in London, she added four more, including three gold medals. At the 2013 World Championships, she won six gold medals, a historic achievement.
In 2016, at the Rio Paralympic Games, she received four gold and two silver medals. By 2020, she earned her eighth gold, plus a silver and bronze. Tatyana’s total medal count reached 20: eight gold, eight silver, and four bronze.
This includes a silver medal from the 2014 Winter Paralympics in cross-country skiing. In 2009, she began competing in professional marathons, winning the Chicago Marathon. With the advent of 2013, she became the first to win the Grand Slam of four World Major Marathons. In 2014,2015, and 2016 she repeated her wins in all four major marathons for an unprecedented four years in a row.
She again won the Chicago Marathon in 2017 and in 2018 she won the Boston Marathon.
Activism
In 2005, Tatyana and her mother, Deborah, filed a lawsuit against the Howard County Public School System. They won the right for Tatyana to race alongside runners starting in 2006, McFadden’s efforts led to the passage of the Maryland Fitness and Athletics Equity for Students with Disabilities Act. This law requires schools to provide students with disabilities the opportunity to compete in interscholastic athletics.
Conclusion
Tatyana McFadden’s life story resonates as that of great resilience and determination. Given the odds against her, she built quite an extraordinary career with 20 Paralympic medals, including eight gold. Her achievements are more than what was made in the realm of sports; rather, her activism opened further doors toward greater inclusiveness in athletics. What Tatyana has done—from the Russian orphanage to world champion—continues to inspire so many.
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