Thursday, July 14, 2016

Tatyana McFadden wins 2016 ESPY Award for Best Female Athlete with a Disability


Tatyana McFadden the dedicated wheelchair marathoner won the 2016 ESPY Award for Best Female Athlete with a Disability, the first such honor for the Atholton graduate.Ms. McFadden has been nominated for the honor six times. 

Ms. McFadden has won three straight wheelchair marathon grand slams and is halfway to her fourth, with wins in Boston and London this year. Chicago and New York come later this fall. McFadden became the first athlete to claim all four titles in a calendar year in 2013.

She also finished in the top 10 in three International Paralympic Committee Nordic Skiing World Championships events last year — the 1-, 5- and 10-kilometer races.

This September, as a member of  the  U.S. Paralympic team, she will attempt seven gold medals in 10 days at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. She would be the first athlete to sweep every distance, from the 100 meters to the marathon, at the Paralympic Games.

Tatyana McFadden was born with spina bifida, which left her paralyzed below the waist. She spent the first six years of her life in a Russian orphanage before being adopted by Deborah McFadden and raised in Maryland.

The Espy Award 2016 winner of Male Athlete with a Disability is Richard Browne, a 25-year-old amputee sprinter who hails from Jackson, Miss.

YouTube published by Memorial Van Damme | Sept. 2014

Video of USA's Richard Browne setting a new paralympic world record. In the 200m race for "blade runners" at AG Insurance Memorial Van Damme. Browne stopped the clocks after 21.62 secs.



The Pat Tillman Award for Service was presented to Paralympic swimmer Sgt. Elizabeth Marks (photo) for her strength through adversity and continued service to her country.

article for Ability Chicago Info, by Jim Watkins  | July 14, 2016

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