Tatyana McFadden

Tatyana McFadden

Tatyana McFadden in London 2012
Personal information
Nationality	American
Born	(1989-04-21) April 21, 1989 (age 27) Leningrad, RSFSR, Soviet Union
Residence	Clarksville, Maryland, USA
Sport
Sport	Wheelchair Track and Field
College team	University of Illinois Wheelchair Basketball and Wheelchair Track and Field teams
Medal record Women's Track and Field (T54) Representing  United States Paralympic Games 2016 Rio 400m – T54 2016 Rio 800m - T54 2016 Rio 1500m - T54 2016 Rio 5000m – T54 2012 London 400m – T54 2012 London 800m – T54 2012 London 1500m – T54 2004 Athens 100m – T54 2008 Beijing 200m – T54 2008 Beijing 400m – T54 2008 Beijing 800m – T54 2016 Rio 100m – T54 2016 Rio Marathon – T54 2004 Athens 200m – T54 2008 Beijing 4x100m – T53-54 2012 London 100m – T54 IPC World Championships 2006 Assen 100m – T54 2011 Christchurch 200m – T54 2011 Christchurch 400m – T54 2011 Christchurch 800m – T54 2011 Christchurch 1500m – T54 2013 Lyon 100m – T54 2013 Lyon 200m – T54 2013 Lyon 400m – T54 2013 Lyon 800m – T54 2013 Lyon 1500m – T54 2013 Lyon 5000m – T54 2006 Assen 200m – T54 2006 Assen 400m – T54 2011 Christchurch 4x400m – T53-54 2011 Christchurch 100m – T54 New York City Marathon 2010 New York City Marathon 2013 New York City Marathon 2014 New York City Marathon 2015 New York City Marathon 2016 New York City Marathon Women's Paralympic cross-country skiing (Sitting) Representing  United States Paralympic Games 2014 Sochi 1km Sprint

Tatyana McFadden (Russian: Татьяна Макфадден; born April 21, 1989,) is a Russian-born United States Paralympian athlete competing in the category T54. McFadden has won 17 Paralympic medals in multiple Summer Paralympic Games.

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. Health Department. Deborah and her partner Bridget O'Shaughnessy adopted Tatyana and took her to live in Baltimore.

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.