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Tatyana McFadden: From Orphanage to Champion Wheelchair Athlete
By David Powell for NYRROctober 10, 2011
At the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 9, American Tatyana McFadden, 22, won the women's wheelchair division in 1:45:00. Christie Dawes of Australia finished second (1:47:01). Tatyana has won in Chicago twice, and is the defending women's wheelchair champion of the ING New York City Marathon.
It was love at first sight. Except that, for Deborah McFadden, it wasn't a typical love affair. The object of her affection was a severely disabled Russian orphan girl.
In 1993, Deborah was in St. Petersburg, Russia on U.S. government business as commissioner for disabilities. On a visit to an orphanage, she met Tatyana, a 6-year-old who'd been born with spina bifida and who had amazed the staff by living far longer than expected.
"I had no intention of adopting, let alone a 6-year-old paralyzed child, but Tatyana and I had a connection that was nothing short of magical and miraculous," Deborah recalls. "I went back to the hotel that night and couldn't get her off my mind."
So began a relationship that would take Tatyana to the United States as Deborah's adopted daughter. She would grow up to become one of the country's outstanding wheelchair athletes. Since 1995, she had never been back to St. Petersburg--until this year.
In an emotional return to the orphanage in April, Tatyana McFadden astonished those who'd said good-bye to a sickly child, a girl who had known nothing of the outside world, who'd walked on her hands because there was no money to pay for a wheelchair.
"The orphanage had never had a child come back to visit, let alone one they thought would never live," says Deborah. "The staff came out to meet her and there she was with muscles to die for."
The staff was astounded to learn that Tatyana drives a car, has an able-bodied boyfriend, is a student at the University of Illinois, travels the world on her own, and is pictured on 150 million McDonald's cups and 10,000 BP gas station posters across the country.
Even more incredible was Tatyana's engagement with the children. "She picked up every child who was disabled and cuddled them," says Deborah. "The staff had never seen anything like this. [They] were speechless. I brought in some DVDs to show her racing, and people were crying. There is no dream they could have had that this person would achieve anything."
Tatyana, now 22, won the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in 2009 and the ING New York City Marathon last year. She has six Paralympic medals (four silver, two bronze), and she won four gold medals and a bronze at the IPC World Championships in New Zealand this past January. She wants to win five gold medals at the 2012 London Paralympics.
But first, Tatyana wants an ING New York City Marathon gold medal to keep. She gave her 2010 medal to the orphanage. "They gave me so much, I wanted to give back," she says. "I will always have that feeling of being proud to win the New York City Marathon, and those memories are greater than the possession of an item."
The orphanage saved her life, she says. Deborah recalls Tatyana's words to the director as she handed over her medal: "You too are a champion because, for all these years, you have raised these children without a lot of money."
Tatyana was instrumental in getting a law passed in Maryland requiring public schools to provide opportunities for disabled students to participate in sports. She has addressed President Obama's senior staff at the White House on the importance of equal access.
Tatyana has a Russian mantra: "Ya sama." It means "I can do it myself."