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They say our early years have a strong effect on who we become, and this is certainly the case for Paralympian Tatyana McFadden. Until the age of 6, Tatyana was living in a Russian orphanage walking on her hands because there were no wheelchairs available. She was known by the orphanage’s staff for her stubborn, “I can do it on my own,” personality.A grim future, her entire life changed in 1995 when her future adoptive mother Deborah McFadden, who was working for the United States government and was in Russia to disburse aid, met Tatyana while visiting her orphanage. She fell in love with her spirit, and even though she wasn’t thinking about adopting, she adopted Tatyana in hopes of giving her a future.
Deborah was temporarily paralyzed for a year with Guillaine Barre Syndrome, so she understood the life of someone with a mobility disability, hence her desire to help Tatyana. Read on to find out how Tatyana went on to become one of the most decorated wheelchair racers in the world.
Why She’s Fearless
After arriving in the US, Deborah took Tatyana to the doctors right away. Tatyana was born with spinal bifida, but since she was severely malnourished before her adoption, 6 long years of malnourishment, doctors weren’t hopeful she would fully recover. To help her become stronger, Deborah enrolled Tatyana in adapted sports in their hometown of Baltimore, Maryland with Blaze Sports.
Falling in love with wheelchair racing right away, her being sick quickly became a long forgotten memory. At the age of 8, she began competing in wheelchair racing amongst her peers and by the time she was in 8th grade she knew what she wanted the most – to become a Paralympian. And she was able to make her dream a reality when she was just 14 years old.
In 2004 at the Summer Athens Paralympic Games, Tatyana made her Paralympic debut the same time she started high school. During her first appearance at the Paralympic games, Tatyana brought home one medal – a bronze in the 200m. Four years later, Tatyana returned to the Paralympics in Beijing, and won four more medals. Short distances at high speed were her specialty.
And in 2009, Tatyana began doing marathons, and won the Chicago Marathon that year. The following two years, she went on to win the New York marathon, Chicago marathon and the London marathon. At the 2012 London Paralympics, Tatyana finally won the gold; three in fact. After the London Paralympics, Tatyana began to focus on long distance and marathons.
What’s Next?
At the 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympics, Tatyana decided to try something new, a winter sport, Nordic skiing (the adaptive form of cross country skiing), and won the silver medal. After several years of winning wheelchair marathons around the globe, and setting records, Tatyana returned to the Summer Paralympics in 2016 in Rio, winning silver in the 100m. And at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Paralympic games, she won five more medals, including a gold in the 100 meter universal relay.
She is one unstoppable woman. From owning the wheelchair racing circuit for decades to her newest passion, offering training sessions to help others get in shape via AirBnb Experiences, Tatyana is her own a dream maker.
ideas@spinalpedia.com
