Tatyana McFadden
Tatyana McFadden in London 2012
Personal information
NationalityRussian, American
Born (1989-04-21) April 21, 1989
Leningrad, RSFSR, Soviet Union
Sport
SportWheelchair Track and Field
College teamUniversity of Illinois Wheelchair Basketball and Wheelchair Track and Field teams
Medal record
Women's Track and field (T54)
Representing  United States
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio 400m – T54
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio 800m – T54
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio 1500m – T54
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio 5000m – T54
Gold medal – first place 2012 London 400m – T54
Gold medal – first place 2012 London 800m – T54
Gold medal – first place 2012 London 1500m – T54
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo mixed 4 × 100 m relay
Silver medal – second place 2004 Athens 100m – T54
Silver medal – second place 2008 Beijing 200m – T54
Silver medal – second place 2008 Beijing 400m – T54
Silver medal – second place 2008 Beijing 800m – T54
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio 100m – T54
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio Marathon – T54
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo 800m – T54
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens 200m – T54
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Beijing 4 × 100 m – T53–54
Bronze medal – third place 2012 London 100m – T54
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo 5000 m T54
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2006 Assen100m – T54
Gold medal – first place2011 Christchurch200m – T54
Gold medal – first place2011 Christchurch400m – T54
Gold medal – first place2011 Christchurch800m – T54
Gold medal – first place2011 Christchurch1500m – T54
Gold medal – first place2013 Lyon100m – T54
Gold medal – first place2013 Lyon200m – T54
Gold medal – first place2013 Lyon400m – T54
Gold medal – first place2013 Lyon800m – T54
Gold medal – first place2013 Lyon1500m – T54
Gold medal – first place2013 Lyon5000m – T54
Gold medal – first place2017 London200m – T54
Gold medal – first place2017 London1500m – T54
Silver medal – second place2006 Assen200m – T54
Silver medal – second place2006 Assen400m – T54
Silver medal – second place2011 Christchurch4 × 400 m – T53–54
Silver medal – second place2023 Paris400m – T54
Bronze medal – third place2011 Christchurch100m – T54
Bronze medal – third place2023 Paris100m – T54
Bronze medal – third place2023 Paris800m – T54
New York City Marathon
Gold medal – first place2010 New York CityMarathon
Bronze medal – third place2011 New York CityMarathon
Gold medal – first place2013 New York CityMarathon
Gold medal – first place2014 New York CityMarathon
Gold medal – first place2015 New York CityMarathon
Gold medal – first place2016 New York CityMarathon
Silver medal – second place2017 New York CityMarathon
Silver medal – second place2018 New York CityMarathon
Silver medal – second place2019 New York CityMarathon
Silver medal – second place2021 New York CityMarathon
Women's Paralympic cross-country skiing (Sitting)
Representing  United States
Paralympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2014 Sochi 1km Sprint

Tatyana McFadden (Татьяна Макфадден; born April 21, 1989[1]) is an American Paralympic athlete of Russian descent competing in the category T54. McFadden has won twenty Paralympic medals in multiple Summer Paralympic Games.

Biography

McFadden was born in Leningrad, then Soviet Union, on 21 April 1989. She was born with spina bifida, a congenital disorder that paralyzed her from the waist down. After her birth mother abandoned her in an orphanage that was too poor to afford a wheelchair for her, 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 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Deborah and her partner Bridget O'Shaughnessy adopted Tatyana and took her to live in Baltimore.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

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 attended the University of Illinois studying for a degree in Human Development and Family Studies, was a member of the Theta chapter of Phi Sigma Sigma, and was on the University of Illinois wheelchair basketball team.[4][7]

Competition

McFadden began racing at the age of eight.[3] 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 × 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.[8] 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 City in 2010, Chicago in 2011, London in 2011, and Boston and New York in 2015.[4][9]

McFadden's coach at the University of Illinois is Adam Bleakney, himself a veteran wheelchair racer.[4]

Tatyana and her sister Hannah competed in the same Paralympic final (100m – T54 in London 2012).[10]

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.[11][12] McFadden also won the Boston, Chicago, London, and New York marathons in 2013.[13][14][15][16] This made her the first person – non-disabled or otherwise – to win the four major marathons in the same year.[15][16][17] She also set a new course record for the Chicago Marathon (1 hour, 42 minutes, 35 seconds).[15]

McFadden began 2014 by returning to the country of her birth, Russia, to compete in the Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi. After winning silver medal in the 1 km (0.6 mi) Sprint sitting cross-country skiing event; McFadden claimed she was "fulfilled" after winning the medal in front of all of her family including her biological mother.[18][19] McFadden finished in 5th place in the Women's 12 km (7 mi). Just over a month after Sochi, McFadden returned to wheelchair racing at the London Marathon, where she successfully defended her title in a new course record time.[20][21]

In 2015 McFadden won the NYC marathon, and broke its women's course record by seven minutes and 20 seconds (her time was 1 hour, 43 minutes and four seconds).[9]

On October 8, 2017, McFadden won the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

On April 16, 2018, McFadden won the 122nd Boston Marathon.

On October 10, 2021, McFadden won the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

Activism

McFadden had difficulty competing at high school. Atholton High School would not allow her to race at the same time as non-disabled 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.[2][3]

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, a rival runner and McFadden collided after a 200-meter race, causing the other runner her miss her conference title meet from the injuries.[22]

McFadden's lawsuit is credited for the eventual passage of the Maryland Fitness and Athletics Equity for Students with Disabilities Act in 2008, which made Maryland the first state to require schools to provide equal physical education and athletic opportunities for students with disabilities. It is called Tatyana's Law.[23][24][4][22]

She was also a leader of an ultimately unsuccessful effort against a 2012 Russian law to prohibit adoptions of Russian children by American parents.[25][26]

Achievements

The women's wheelchair race at the 2011 London marathon (left to right: Sandra Graf, Shelly Woods, Tatyana McFadden, Amanda McGrory).
New York City Marathon 2011
Tatyana McFadden near halfway point of Boston Marathon 2018 in which she got first place.
  • 2003: Member of U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Team
  • 2004: Silver medal, 100m; Bronze medal, 200m – 2004 Summer Paralympics
  • 2005: Gold medal, 100m; Two silver medals, 400m, 800m; Bronze medal, 200m – IPC Open European National Championships, Espoo, Finland
  • 2006: Gold medal, 100m (WR); Two silver medals, 200m, 400m,) – IPC World Championships, Assen, The Netherlands
  • 2007: Three second-place finishes, 200m, 400m, 800m – Meet in the Heat, Atlanta, Ga.
  • 2007: Two first-place finishes, 200m, 800m – U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships, Atlanta, Ga.
  • 2007: First place, 200m (WR) – Boiling Point Wheelchair Track Classic, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
  • 2007: Two gold medals, 400m, 800m – Visa Paralympic World Cup, Manchester, United Kingdom
  • 2008: Silver medal, 200m T54; silver medal, 400m T54; silver medal, 800m T54; bronze medal, Women's 4 × 100 m relay T53/T54 – 2008 Summer Paralympics.
  • 2010: Won the Open Women's Division of the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division of the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta with the time of 23:47:66.
  • 2011: Won the 2011 Open Women's Division of the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division of the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta with the time of 23:39:26.
  • 2012: Won the 2012 Open Women's Division of the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division of the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta with the time of 23:53:08.
  • 2012: 100m T54; 400m T54; gold medal, 800m T54; 1500m T54; marathon –2012 Summer Paralympics.
  • 2013: Won the women's wheelchair divisions of the Boston, Chicago, London, and New York City marathons in 2013.[13][14][15][16] This makes her the first person – non-disabled or otherwise – to win four major marathons in the same year.[15][16][17] She also set a new course record for the Chicago Marathon (1 hour, 42 minutes, 35 seconds).[15]
  • 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.[11][12]
  • 2014: Won the 2014 Boston Marathon wheelchair division.
  • 2014: Won gold at the London Marathon, in a new course record.
  • 2014: Won the 2014 Open Women's Division of the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division of the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta with the time of 23:17:42.
  • 2014: Won the women's wheelchair division of the 2014 New York City Marathon with a time of 1:42:16.
  • 2015: Won gold at the London Marathon, in a new course record.
  • 2015: Won the 2015 Open Women's Division of the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division of the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta with the time of 23:57:23
  • 2015: Won the women's wheelchair division of the 2015 New York City Marathon.
  • 2016: Won the 2016 Boston Marathon wheelchair division.
  • 2016: Won the 2016 Open Women's Division of the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division of the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta with the time of 23:14.56
  • 2016: Won gold at the 2016 London Marathon wheelchair division.
  • 2016: Won silver in the 100 meters at the 2016 Summer Paralympics.
  • 2017: Won the Bank of America Chicago Marathon wheelchair division.
  • 2018: Won the 2018 Boston Marathon wheelchair division.
  • 2021: Won the 2021 Open Women's Division of the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division of the AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta with the time of 24:07.52
  • 2021: Won the 2021 Chicago Marathon wheelchair division, earning her 9th Chicago Marathon title.[27]

References

  1. 1 2 ""Boston wheelchair winner Tatyana McFadden racing for Boston in London Marathon"". Associated Press. April 19, 2013. Archived from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  2. 1 2 "After legal wrangle, teen wheelchair racer competes against peers" Archived 2013-11-04 at the Wayback Machine, USA Today, April 19, 2006. Retrieved 2013-04-20.
  3. 1 2 3 Chadiha, Jeffri (February 26, 2007). "The Right To Roll". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tatyana McFadden looking to go far and fast at Paralympics" Archived 2015-01-03 at the Wayback Machine, by Kevin Cowherd, The Baltimore Sun, August 25, 2012. Also online at the Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2013.04.23.
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 20, 2016. Retrieved September 19, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ↑ "The family who broke records and changed laws". BBC News. May 23, 2018. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved July 21, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Last three weeks a marathon for McFadden" Archived 2013-11-05 at the Wayback Machine, by John Jeansonne, November 7, 2010, Newsday. Retrieved 2013-04-23.
  8. ↑ McFadden, Tatyana. "About: Tatyana and her Wheelchair hit the Marathons". Tatyana McFadden. Tatyana McFadden. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  9. 1 2 "American Tatyana McFadden sets new course record in NYC Marathon wheelchair division". Usatoday.com. Archived from the original on November 3, 2015. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Women's 100m – T54 – Final Rankings". paralympic.org. Archived from the original on November 29, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
  11. 1 2 "IPC Athletics: Sophie Kamlish wins T44 200m bronze in Lyon". BBC Sport Sport. Archived from the original on November 6, 2015. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  12. 1 2 Zaccardi, Nick (July 27, 2013). "Tatyana McFadden goes 6 for 6 at IPC world championships".
  13. 1 2 "Boston marathon winner Tatyana McFadden races in London". BBC Sport Sport. Archived from the original on November 24, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  14. 1 2 "BBC Sport - London Marathon 2013: Priscah Jeptoo and Tsegaye Kebede win". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on March 9, 2014. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Tatyana McFadden's Chicago Marathon Win Marks An Incredible, Unparalleled Milestone". HuffPost. October 14, 2013. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "NYC Marathon: Tatyana McFadden completes slam". USA Today. Archived from the original on April 10, 2018. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  17. 1 2 "Tatyana McFadden makes history at Chicago Marathon | IPC". Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
  18. ↑ Harry, Ed (March 12, 2014). "Sochi Paralympics: Tatyana McFadden 'fulfilled' after silver". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on March 17, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Sochi Paralympics: Tatyana McFadden pipped to sprint gold". BBC Sport. March 12, 2014. Archived from the original on April 10, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  20. ↑ "BBC Sport - London Marathon 2014: David Weir loses out to Marcel Hug". BBC. April 13, 2014. Archived from the original on December 22, 2014. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  21. ↑ "McFadden breaks course record with London Marathon win". Paralympic.org. April 14, 2014. Archived from the original on October 1, 2015. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  22. 1 2 "Public schools open sports to athletes with disabilities" Archived 2013-06-22 at the Wayback Machine, by Glenn Graham and Jeff Seidel, The Baltimore Sun, March 25, 2010. Retrieved 2013.04.23.
  23. ↑ "There's No Hill Tatyana McFadden Can't Climb". October 27, 2020.
  24. ↑ Michael Popke (May 2008). "Maryland Becomes First State Requiring Equal Athletic Opportunities for Disabled Students". www.athleticbusiness.com.
  25. ↑ "Russia’s Move to Block U.S. Adoptions Sets Off a Wave of Worry" Archived 2017-01-19 at the Wayback Machine, by Erik Eckholm, The New York Times, December 22, 2012. Retrieved 2013.04.23.
  26. ↑ Pini, Jeff. "Finish Line Scenes – Marathon". Boston.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  27. ↑ Tatyana McFadden Reclaims Crown with 2021 Chicago Marathon Victory at NBC Chicago Published 10/10/2021
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