ABOUT TATYANA

There are very few athletes in history who have achieved so much under such unique circumstances. Born with spina bifida, Tatyana McFadden spent the first six years of her life in a Russian orphanage with virtually nothing, not even a wheelchair. Paralyzed from the waist down, and with no other way to move, she learned to walk on her hands to keep up with the other children. Little did she know that the powerful arms and hands she began to develop as a small child would someday carry her around the globe as one of the world's greatest athletes.

In 1993, Deborah McFadden, then Commissioner of Disabilities for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, came upon Tatyana while visiting her orphanage on an otherwise routine business trip. She felt a connection and soon after adopted Tatyana, brought her to the United States and gave her a new start on life.

In the USA, her parents enrolled Tatyana in sports programs as a way to build her strength. Tatyana tried many sports but from the start she fell in love with wheelchair racing—a sport in which her powerful arms immediately brought success.

In 2004, at the age of 15, Tatyana made her Paralympic debut in Athens. She was the youngest member of Team USA and returned from Greece with a silver and bronze medal and a hunger to become the best.

At the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, at the age of 19 and still in the infancy of her athletic career, she earned four more medals. In London, in 2012, she added another four medals including three gold medals. One year later, at the 2013 World Championships, she became the first athlete in history to win six gold medals at the same competition. In 2016, at the Paralympic Games in Rio, Tatyana received four gold medals and two silver medals. In 2020, at the Paralympic Games Tatyana received her eighth gold medal along with a silver and bronze.

In total, Tatyana holds 20 Paralympic medals - eight gold, eight silver, and four bronze. This medal count includes a silver medal from the 2014 Winter Paralympics for cross-country skiing.

In 2009, Tatyana challenged herself with the professional marathon circuit, coming in first place in the Chicago Marathon. In 2013, she became the first man or woman, able-bodied or disabled, to win the Grand Slam (four World Major Marathons in the same year). In 2014, 2015, and 2016