Tatyana McFadden crowned 2014 Boston Marathon Woman's Wheelchair Champion

Tatyana McFadden crossed the finish line to win her second straight Boston Marathon.

By Michael Whitmer

 | Boston GLOBE STAFF   APRIL 21, 2014

Tatyana McFadden made her 25th birthday a winning one, defending her women’s wheelchair title at the 118th Boston Marathon on Monday.

McFadden won last year’s race in her Boston debut, and made it 2-for-2 in impressive fashion with an unofficial time of 1:35:06. She pushed past Tsuchida Wakako of Japan near the halfway point, and kept building her lead.

The historic winner of the four big races in 2013 (London, Boston, Chicago, New York, becoming the first person to sweep them), McFadden won a silver medal in Sochi at the Paralympic Games earlier this year (sit-ski event), then defended her London Marathon title last week.

Born in Russia and adopted by Deborah McFadden as a 6-year-old, McFadden now lives in Maryland, and attends the University of Illinois. Just like a year ago in Boston, McFadden was content to stay back in the first half of the race, then grabbed the lead and took charge. She finished with an unofficial time of 1 hour, 35 minutes, and 4 seconds.

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