Tatyana McFadden

Started: She took up the sport through the Bennett Blazers programme in Baltimore, MD, United States of America. "I got to try everything. They had chairs for basketball, racing chairs, hand bikes if you wanted to bike, swimming, archery. My parents would drive me every weekend and sit there for eight hours, when I did all those different sports." (athletesquarterly.com, 20 May 2018; Athlete, 17 Jul 2017) Reason: She tried a number of sports at the Bennett Blazers programme but fell in love with wheelchair racing. "Because I didn't receive the medical treatment I needed for the first six years of my life, my parents thought it was really important for me to get involved in sports because they knew that was the fastest way to heal and become healthy. By the time I was in the seventh grade, I knew I wanted to be an Olympic athlete. I didn't even know what the Paralympic Games were." (athletesquarterly.com, 20 May 2018; TheEllenShow YouTube channel, 05 Oct 2016; tatyanamcfadden.com, 01 Sep 2016) Ambition: To win medals at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (nbcsports.com, 18 May 2023) Milestones: In 2013 she became the first person to win the Boston Marathon, London Marathon, Chicago Marathon and New York Marathon in the same year. She repeated the feat in 2014, 2015 and 2016. (teamusa.org, 21 Feb 2019; insidethegames.biz, 03 Nov 2013) Awards: In 2020 she was inducted into the Hall of Fame by Road Runners Club of America. (tatyanamcfadden.com, 31 Dec 2020) She was named in the '30 Under 30 Class Of 2017' by Forbes magazine. (teamusa.org, 03 Jan 2017) She was voted Best Female Athlete of the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro by the United States Olympic Committee [USOC]. (paralympic.org, 29 Sep 2016) She was presented with the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The honour is given to the athlete who has performed at an outstanding level and overcome adversity. (swimmingworldmagazine.com, 15 Sep 2016) She received the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award [ESPY] for Best Female Athlete with a Disability in 2016. (baltimoresun.com, 14 Jul 2016) She was named the 2015 Female Paralympic Athlete of the Year by the United States Olympic Committee [USOC]. (olympics.nbcsports.com, 11 Dec 2015) She received the Juan Antonio Samaranch International Olympic Committee [IOC] Disabled Athlete award in 2015. (insidethegames.biz, 25 Aug 2015) She was named Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability at the 2015 Laureus Sports Awards. (rio2016.org.br, 15 Apr 2015) She was named the 2014 Female Para Athlete of the Year by USA Track and Field [USATF]. (insidethegames.biz, 21 Dec 2014) Additional Info: DOCUMENTARY She was one of the athletes featured in the 2020 documentary Rising Phoenix, which detailed the history of the Paralympic Movement as well as following the personal journeys of nine Para athletes, including McFadden. She also served as co-producer of the documentary. In 2021 the documentary won the Outstanding Long Sports Documentary and Outstanding Music Direction at the Sports Emmy Awards. "We don't have a history book on the Paralympics, nor do people want to read one. But this film shows people how the Paralympics originated. We're trying to have a new perception of inspiration. We want to be called inspirational for the work we put in, the medals we get, or how strong we are, not just because we get out of bed every day. We have to break that stereotype. It is something which needed to be done and I am so happy that we did it. I definitely see myself doing something like this, probably while I'm still competing because I want to do a few more Games [speaking in 2021]. But definitely when I retire. I love film making, I love interviewing people and if I could be part of sharing more stories and talking about disability in making that movement globally, I would love to be part of something like that." (refinery29.com, 23 Aug 2021; paralympic.org, 20 Aug 2021, 09 Jun 2021; womensrunning.com, 08 Jan 2021, 17 Jan 2021) BLOOD CLOT CONCERNS In November 2016 she noticed swelling around her legs. Although she was initially unconcerned, the problem worsened while she was at a training camp in California, United States of America, and she was unable to get into her racing wheelchair. She was diagnosed with blood clots, which can potentially cause pulmonary embolism and become fatal. She returned home to Maryland, where she had three operations, but she did not finally solve the problem until August 2017 after visiting a doctor that had been recommended by one of her mother's friends. "They went in and looked at the clots in more detail and realised that my blood was slowing down. Being born with spina bifida I have only one kidney and they theorised there was no open and direct route for the vein blood to travel back to my heart. It took about 18-20 months to recover and even to this day [speaking in 2021] I can feel the leftovers of it, meaning the lymphedema. So I still have my good days and bad days unfortunately." (Facebook page, 15 Apr 2022; cnbc.com, 26 Aug 2021; paralympic.org, 20 Aug 2021; bostonmagazine.com, 12 Apr 2018) MOVE TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA She was born with spina bifida and was abandoned at an orphanage in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. She did not have a wheelchair, so she learned to walk using her hands. At age six she was adopted by Deborah McFadden, who had visited the orphanage as part of her work as a commissioner for the US Department of Health and Human Sciences. "Lots of people come in and out of the orphanage just wanting to adopt other kids but never a child with a disability. I looked at her [Deborah] and it was just that connection. I told everyone at the orphanage that she was going to be my mum. I received my very first wheelchair when I first came over to the US. It was a little red wheelchair that was waiting for me at my new home. It was like freedom for me. I got in it, and I was pushing up and down the street so fast, doing wheelies." (nbcsports.com, 18 May 2023; cnbc.com, 26 Aug 2021; The More You Know YouTube channel, 22 Oct 2019; teamusa.org, 01 Jul 2016; Baltimore Sun, 08 Oct 2008) OTHER ACTIVITIES She has set up the Tatyana McFadden Foundation, which is part of the New York Road Runners Team for Kids in the United States of America. The organisation aims to support young athletes with an impairment. In addition she has served on the board of directors for the Illinois Spina Bifida Association, and she is also the author of a children's book called 'Ya Sama! Moments from My Life' in which she writes about her experiences wh

Sporting Relatives: Her sister Hannah has represented the United States of America in wheelchair racing, and competed at the Paralympic Games in 2012 and 2016. (SportsDeskOnline, 15 Apr 2021; teamusa.org, 01 Jul 2016)