Kids & Family
Howard County's Tatyana McFadden Wins Again at Boston Marathon
The Paralympic athlete swept her division for the second year in a row.
Clarksville athlete Tatyana McFadden had two reasons to celebrate Monday.
First, it was her birthday; and the icing on the cake, she won the women's wheelchair race at the Boston Marathon for the second year in a row, according to WJZ.
"It was definitely a great birthday present," McFadden, 25, told NBC Sports.
McFadden stayed in the back for the first half of the race, then pushed ahead around the 13-mile mark to win with a time of one hour, 35 minutes and six seconds, the Boston Globe reported.
In 2013, McFadden became the first person to win all four major races—London, New York, Boston and Chicago—in one year, also earning a silver medal in Sochi this winter for Paralympic skiing.
Last weekend, McFadden set a course record at the London Marathon for the wheelchair race, according to The Baltimore Sun.
After crossing the finish line Monday, McFadden gave her winning wreath to Carlos Arredondo, one of the first responders who treated victims of the bombing at last year's event, USA Today reported. She also wore the name of eight-year-old Martin Richard—one of three people who died in the Boston Marathon bombings—on the back of her jersey.
“I feel it’s my job to give back ... and teach them that life can still continue,” McFadden told the Boston Globe.
McFadden spent her early childhood as an orphan in Russia, where she walked on her hands to get around because of a condition called "spina bifida," meaning she had a hole in her spine, according to her biography.
She came to the U.S. after a woman working for the U.S. Health Department, Debbie McFadden, visited the orphanage on business and the two felt a connection that compelled McFadden to adopt the child. Once Tatyana moved to the U.S., her mother enrolled her in sports to help her build strength.
"I was just trying to get her healthy. I wasn't thinking, 'Let me make an Olympian,'" Debbie McFadden told the Boston Globe. Years and multiple medals later, Tatyana McFadden is an inspiration around the world, and especially in Maryland.
"Congrats & happy 25th birthday to MD native @TatyanaMcFadden on her back-to-back Boston Marathon women's wheelchair titles #BostonStrong," Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley tweeted on Monday.
Related:
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
