Meet Maryland's Paralympians

Two disabled athletes from Maryland are joining competitors from 165 countries in the Paralympic Games being held in London.

Marathoner Tatyana McFadden of Clarksville, and swimmer Jessica Long of Baltimore, are among an estimated 4,200 athletes participating in the games.

McFadden qualified for the Paralympics by winning the women's wheelchair division of the 2011 Chicago Marathon. Long won four gold medals in swimming at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing.

Tatyana McFadden, Clarksville, MD

McFadden was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, with an underdeveloped spinal cord, which resulted in paralyzation below the waist and a hole in her spine according to teamusa.org. After having surgery, McFadden was sent to an orphanage, where she spent the first six years of her life.

In 1994, she was adopted by Debbie McFadden, commissioner of disabilities for the U.S. Health Department, and brought to the United States, where she was introduced to sports.

McFadden was involved in the passage of the Fitness and Equity Students Athletic Bill in Maryland. She has testified before Congress and was featured on Sen.Mary Landrieu's website on adoption issues.

In 2011, she finished first in the Chicago Marathon’s wheelchair division, which qualified her for the London 2012 Paralympic Games, her first Paralympic marathon event.

McFadden's other accomplishments on the track include success at the IPC Athletics World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2011 where she won four gold medals in the 200m (T54), 400m (T54), 800m (T54), 1500m (T54) and a bronze medal in the 100m (T54).

For more information about Tatyana McFadden, visit the Team USA website.

Jessica Long, Baltimore, MD

Jessica Long was born in Siberia and was adopted from a Russian orphanage when she was 13-months-old, according to TeamUSA.org. Her legs were amputated when she was 18 months old and she learned to walk with prostheses. 

The Olympics team website reports that Long began swimming in her grandparents’ pool before joining her first competitive team in 2002. The next year, Long was selected as Maryland Swimming’s 2003 Female Swimmer of the Year with a Disability. Currently, Long holds 20 world records.

Long is no stranger to the Olympic Games. In 2008 at the Paralympic games in Beijing, China, Long won four gold medals, setting three world records (400m freestyle - WR, 100m freestyle - WR, 200m individual medley - WR, 100m butterfly); a Silver medal (100m backstroke); and a Bronze medal (100m breaststroke).

For more information on Jessica Long, visit the Olympic Team website.

The first Paralympic Games were held in Rome, Italy in 1960 and featured  400 athletes from 23 countries. In 1976, Örnsköldsvik, Sweden staged  the first Paralympic Winter Games.

Information in this article was taken from www.teamusa.org/US-Paralympics.aspx