Tatyana McFadden

Biographical Information

Tatyana McFadden is considered the fastest woman in the world. She has 20 Paralympic medals (including eight gold medals), 24 World Major Marathon wins including four consecutive Grand Slams (first place in Boston, Chicago, NYC, and London marathons in the same year) and has broken five world records in track and field.

In January 2021 Women’s Running Magazine selected Tatyana one of 24 “Power Women of the Year”. Just one month prior, she graced the cover of the magazine’s Gratitude Issue – sharing her powerful lessons of optimism and resilience. Earlier in 2020, she worked both in front and behind the camera as a producer and star of “Rising Phoenix”, the Netflix original drama that tells the story of the Paralympic Movement through the lives of nine Paralympic athletes. The film was released in August 2020 to critical acclaim and received two Emmy Awards.

She was named to the Forbes "30 Under 30" list in 2017, selected as the Best Female Athlete of the 2016 Paralympic Games by the United States Olympic Committee, and received the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award at the 2016 Paralympic Games for outstanding performance, overcoming adversity, and exemplifying sportsmanship.

Additionally, in 2016 she received an ESPY Award as the Best Female Athlete with a Disability and was selected by Marie Claire for the “first class” of Young Women’s Honors. In 2015 she received the Wilma Rudolph Courage Award from the Women's Sports Foundation, the Juan Antonio Samaranch Disabled Athlete Award from the International Olympic Committee, and was named World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability by the Laureus Foundation.

Her Story

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 brought immediate 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. At the 2020 games in Tokyo, she received three additional medals: one gold, one silver, and one 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

she repeated her wins of all four major marathons for an unprecedented four years in a row. In 2017 she won the Chicago Marathon and in 2018 she won the Boston Marathon

Education and Advocacy

Tatyana has received her master’s degree in education from the University of Illinois Champaign/Urbana as well as her undergraduate degree in Human Development and Family Studies at the same institution. When she isn't racing, she works encouraging all youth as a national advocate for healthy lifestyle thorough sports and nutrition, and through volunteer efforts for Move United (para-sports program), Stop the Clot (to help individuals with blood clotting disorders), and is a lifetime member of the Girl Scouts.

She is also actively involved in advancing the rights of people with disabilities. McFadden's efforts are credited for the passage of the Maryland Fitness and Athletics Equity for Students with Disabilities Act, requiring schools to give students with disabilities the opportunity to compete in interscholastic athletics, as well as federal legislation that ensures students with disabilities across the USA have equal access.

Tatyana regularly speaks about her experiences as a person with disability, adoption, and being an elite athlete. She has spoken for Forbes, NIKE, John Hancock, Deloitte, Association for Applied Sports Psychology, META, Girl Scouts of the USA, NextRoll, Northwest Farm Credit Services, and multiple hospital/medical groups. She appeared on The Ellen Show, The Today Show (multiple times), Good Morning America (multiple times), various ESPN network shows, and most recently on the Jen Psaki Show.

For More Information

www.TatyanaMcFadden.co