Wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden’s schedule is so constant, she frequently compares it to the movie “Groundhog Day.”
She feels like Bill Murray’s character, waking up and experiencing the same day over and over again.
“She eats, she goes to training, she comes home, eats again, stretches, goes back,” her mother, Deborah McFadden, said.
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One thing that breaks Tatyana’s routine is her annual trip to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race — a race she won the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division seven years in a row. The 30-year-old athlete isn’t sure when she first began competing in the Peachtree, but said it might have been her senior year in high school. She has won the women’s wheelchair open in consecutive years from 2010 to 2017, coming in second by four minutes in 2018.
The four-time Paralympian races a wide variety of distances, from 100 meter sprints to marathons, but the Fourth of July 10K is one that stands out on her calendar.
“It’s an extremely fast race and it works on everything, your downhills and your climbs,” Tatyana said of the notoriously hilly course. “It pushes your body to the limits in a short amount of time.”
Tatyana banks an average of 100 miles each week in training and builds arm strength with exercises that include walking up and down stairs on her hands.
She’s hoping an extra incentive will spur her on to her eighth win this year: The race is offering the same prize purse for wheelchair racers who break a record as for runners. Any male or female who tops the best times in their division will be awarded – on top of prize money – a $50,000 bonus in honor of the race’s 50th running. For wheelchair athletes, the prize gives a rare opportunity for what may be the biggest single payday ever in a road race of any distance.
“This committee was charged with developing a plan to appropriately celebrate the 50th running of the Peachtree,” said Rich Kenah, executive director of the Atlanta Track Club, which organizes the Peachtree. “The discussion of a record bonus was begun, and it occurred to us that we could use this moment in time to make a statement about the need for equality between wheelchair athletes and able-bodied ones.”
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Tatyana has spent most of her life advocating for wheelchair racers and other disabled athletes to get equal treatment, ever since being denied a spot on her high school track team because of her wheelchair.
Tatyana was born with spina bifida, a condition that does not allow the spine to develop properly. It left her paralyzed from the waist down. Infants with spina bifida typically get surgery immediately after birth to ensure the spinal cord and nerves are fully enclosed in the body, but Tatyana did not get that procedure until she was 21 days old.
She spent most of the first six years of her life in a Russian orphanage without a wheelchair or medical treatment. She was forced to get around using only her hands and arms. By the time she was six, her legs had atrophied.
Deborah McFadden first saw Tatyana while visiting the orphanage in her capacity as a disabilities commissioner for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She would soon adopt the child. When Tatyana arrived in the U.S., a doctor told Deborah that she should not expect her daughter to live long due to her condition. While spina bifida now rarely leads to death after the age of two, Tatyana’s lack of early medical care made her case more complicated.
Deborah wanted to help Tatyana get stronger and healthier, so she found a local sports program for disabled children.
“I thought, ‘Sports make you stronger,’” Deborah said.
Tatyana “fell in love” with the myriad sports she tried: swimming, basketball, archery, table tennis and, eventually, racing. She also displayed a fiery determination, regularly saying “ya sama,” a Russian phrase that roughly translates to “I can do it myself.”
That fire did not dim when she was told she couldn’t race alongside her able-bodied classmates in high school. She had already racked up “boxes of medals” and qualified for the U.S. Paralympic Team, Deborah said, by the time she was told as a high school freshman that she would only be allowed to race on a track by herself.
Tatyana and Deborah sued the school and the state of Maryland in order for Tatyana to be included in her school’s sports teams and interscholastic competition. After the successful legal action, the family lobbied for legislation to be passed in Maryland, their home state, and by Congress.
“Now, if a school doesn’t allow a student to participate in sports because of a disability, they lose federal funding,” Deborah said. “Not funding for sports. Federal funding, period.”
Tatyana went on to the University of Illinois, where she played on their wheelchair basketball team before turning her focus solely to track. She became increasingly dominant in the sport, winning a “grand slam” — four major marathons in one year — four years in a row, plus seven Paralympic gold medals and 13 World Para Athletics Championship gold medals. She’s been sponsored by companies including Coca-Cola and Nike.
“Here’s a child they told me was going to die, and I’m going around the world watching her race,” Debrorah said.
With that success, Tatyana has continued her push towards equality for wheelchair athletes and others with disabilities. She advocated for Olympic and Paralympic athletes to get compensated equally for a medal performance, a policy the U.S. Olympic Committee adopted last year, and continues to speak in favor of equal access to sports for all people.
“I think it’s your responsibility as an elite athlete to be an advocate and help the sport grow,” Tatyana said. “It’s not about the races you win but what you’re going to do for the sport at the end of the day.”
The new step towards parity in the Peachtree’s record bonus is another reason for Tatyana to be excited for the July 4 race. She said it’s an extra incentive for her to push hard and reclaim the top spot. Last year, she placed second as she was still recovering from a surgery in 2017 to remove dangerous blood clots. Now, she’s nearing full recovery, Deborah said.
“It’s definitely going to be a challenging race again this year, so I’m getting prepared and a little more focused,” Tatyana said. “If the weather is good, I definitely see a record being broken.”
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