Talking to 17-Time Paralympic Medalist Tatyana McFadden

On Wednesday evening, renowned Paralympian Tatyana McFadden spoke to a group of 70 students who tuned into a Zoom call hosted by Shira Evans, the Sports Nutritionist at Dartmouth.

McFadden was on hand to talk about many topics, including growing up in a Russian orphanage with spina bifida, how to follow your dreams and about having a positive body image.

Evans talked about how she first became connected with McFadden: "I realized the stress of the pandemic, changes in training, and social distancing can all be real risk factors for worsening body esteem and negative changes in relationships with food for student-athletes. So, I wanted to put together a webinar event with an athlete who could talk about body positivity for inspiration and offer hope on how to navigate these uncertain times." After Evans reached out and shared her idea for the webinar, McFadden was more than happy to be part of it. "She is not only an amazing athlete, but she is so humble and relatable to take time to do this."

Tatyana McFadden decided she was going to be an Olympic athlete at the age of 14.

The next year, she was representing the United States at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. At 15 years of age, she was the youngest member of Team USA.

Since then, she has competed at the Paralympics in Beijing, London and Rio, bringing home a total of 17 Paralympic medals, 15 world gold medals and even an ESPY. She had qualified for her fifth consecutive Games and was busy training for Tokyo 2020 when COVID-19 took the world by storm.

But, to find out how she got to where she is today, we have to start at the beginning.

Life looked a little different when McFadden was a child. She was born in Leningrad, then Soviet Union, in 1989. She was born with spina bifida, a congenital disorder that paralyzed her from the waist down. After her birth mother could not afford to take care of her, McFadden went to live in an orphanage in St. Petersburg, where she would spend the first six years of her life.

Although her childhood was anything but easy, McFadden does not let this define her. "My disability has made me who I am today. Growing up without medical treatment or a wheelchair, if I wanted to get around, I had to figure out how." McFadden took to crawling, scooting and walking around on her hands, developing the muscles that would come in handy many years down the road while competing for her country.

While living in the orphanage, she met Deborah McFadden, who was visiting Russia as a commissioner of disabilities for the U.S. Health Department. It was purely a work trip and Deborah had not been looking to adopt but, as Tatyana said, "the connection was instantaneous," and the rest, as some may say, was history. "I saw her and started to tell everyone 'that's my mom, that's my mom!' It changed my life forever."

After this chance meeting with Deborah, who could not get this little girl off her mind, McFadden moved to Baltimore, where life changed completely. "I was suddenly going to school for the first time. I had to have several surgeries, since I was very sick and anemic. My parents thought that the best way for a child to gain strength was to join sports."

McFadden soon found a love of all sports. "I tried ice hockey, downhill skiing, swimming, basketball, fencing. Finally, I tried wheelchair racing at 7. I don't know if it was a need for speed, but I wanted to work really hard and get better at it. This sport taught me a lot about myself. It allowed me to be confident and gain happiness. It allowed me to be physically and mentally strong."

After participating in wheelchair racing for seven years, McFadden told her parents she wanted to go to the Olympics, not yet knowing that the Paralympics were even a thing. After going to tryouts for the 2004 Paralympic Games, she made it in the 100, 400 and 800m. "After that, I saw the bigger picture and I thought 'wow, I want to do this forever.' I want to have an impact on this sport and on myself. I wanted others to experience this feeling and have the sport grow even more."

Even after her success in Athens, McFadden had difficulty competing in high school. She was not allowed to race at the same time as able-bodied runners because her racing chair was said to create a safety hazard and gave her an unfair advantage. "Being denied a uniform and being denied the chance to race alongside my teammates was difficult. Every child has the right to be involved. I went from the high of competing in Athens to coming back home and being treated like this. Not being able to race alongside others was telling high schoolers that it is ok to segregate others."

So, they sued. In 2005, Tatyana and Deborah filed suit against the Howard County Public School System. "We sued for no damages. We sued for the right for those with disabilities to compete."

Some laws take a long time to pass, but this one "clearly needed to be done" as it was passed in the state of Maryland in two years. Not yet satisfied, the McFaddens worked with President Obama to make it a federal law. Now, there is a nationwide law that allows those with disabilities to participate in school sports. "I wanted to take on this battle because I knew what sports brought to my life. It wasn't easy. People were booing and had their opinions, but it was very important that I kept showing up at every practice and every competition." Her sister, Hannah, who is an amputee, went to high school after the law was passed and had a completely different experience. "High school went so smoothly for her. Nobody treated her differently. And that's exactly what I wanted out of this."

Being in the public eye during and after the lawsuit was a challenge and McFadden struggled with her body image. "Body sensitivity issues were very difficult for me. My disability is very visible. People stare. They may not invite me over. They automatically think of the things I can't do, so I had to show what I could do. Growing up, I was very shy of my muscular arms, and that's something that took a long time to embrace. Strong women weren't seen in the media, so I struggled with that. But then I thought about how far my arms had brought me. They brought me to the Paralympic Games. They gave me major wins. I love them. If I didn't have these arms, I wouldn't have accomplished these things."

After graduating from high school, McFadden went to the University of Illinois on a basketball scholarship. "I was leaving home and I was really nervous. I was someone with a disability going to a BIG10 school and I didn't know what to expect. But, within the sports community, you build such strong friendships and support each other. Whether able-bodied or competing in wheelchair sports, we supported each other."

In 2009, her coach approached her about running her first marathon. At that point, McFadden had run anything from 100m through 1500m, but figured she could never complete 26.2 miles. "Racing my first marathon opened up a new community and made me realize why people run marathons." Now, after getting over her hesitation, McFadden has won marathons in Boston, London, Chicago and New York. Three years in a row. "No big deal," Evans laughed.

After competing in the Paralympics in 2004, 2008 and 2012 in summer sports, McFadden set her sights on a slightly different goal: the Winter Paralympics. With the 2016 Games taking place in Sochi, she knew she wanted to go. Not to watch, but to compete. "It had always been a dream of mine since I could remember to have both families at one competition and I wanted it to happen in Sochi."

So, McFadden left a sport she knew (wheelchair racing) for a sport she knew little about (cross country skiing), which was not easy. "I had a lot of people criticize me. 'You're a summer athlete.' I knew if I made it, it would be an absolutely amazing experience. I wanted both families there to show what adoption can do for people with disabilities and to prove that we can live a normal life when given the opportunity."

Learning the technique was the hardest thing. "It was a very difficult transition and I was low in the rankings. It took me a lot of World Cups to get onto the team. Winning Silver in Sochi was the cherry on top of this dream." And yes, both her adopted and her biological mothers were there to cheer her on.

Fast forward to 2020 and McFadden has since returned to marathon running. She had already qualified for the Paralympics in 2020 when COVID-19 caused it to be postponed until 2021. "It was tough news. But it was also understandable news. It is such a large sporting event and you have to take safety precautions."

Before the lockdown, McFadden had moved to Florida for winter training. And now? "I'm still in Florida and have been by myself, which can be difficult. I can't travel or meet people in isolation, so what has really helped me is building a routine. I'm focusing on nutrition and maintaining my health and sleep. With such uncertainty right now, sleep has been hard, so I've been really taking care of that by talking to a sports psychologist and she has been wonderful."

To pass the time in sunny Florida, McFadden meditates, talks to friends and family, watches movies and tv shows, and reads. "Schitt's Creeks is fun. I'm also learning new recipes and reaching out to people I haven't talked to in a while. But sticking to a routine has made it a lot better. I don't feel sad or 'I don't know what I'll be doing' and having a routine has helped a lot."

She is, of course, still training. "It's like groundhog's day," McFadden laughed, referring to how similar her workout schedule is every day. "I would do about 100 miles a day and go to the gym twice a week, but I have to be creative now. I get up and go out for a run through the neighborhood safely. I come back and make meals. It's important to still stick to the routine."

On top of being a very accomplished athlete, McFadden is also a published author. Her book 'Ya Sama!' (which means 'I can do it and I can do it myself' in Russian) was published in 2016 and spent some time as the No. 1 seller in the children's section. "I wanted to write a book about my life to talk about my disability and my childhood, stories of transition and acceptance and how I navigated life. I just wanted to talk about what I went through."

McFadden's advice for those who may run into the same snags as she did? "Just keep fighting. It is so important. I believe in equality and fighting for that equality is so important. You have to use your voice for a good thing and people will hear it and then respond."

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Talking to 17-Time Paralympic Medalist Tatyana McFadden

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Talking to 17-Time Paralympic Medalist Tatyana McFadden

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