Strength of a Spirit

In London 2012 Olympic games, Tatyana McFadden, who is in a wheelchair, sets a new world record of 52.97 seconds, winning her first gold medal. She won two more golds and one bronze medal more then any other female athlete in London. Because of this she is the fastest wheelchair racer in the world. In July 2013 she became the first to ever win six gold medals at an International Paralympic Committee world championship for track. She was known as "The Beast," because of her broad shoulders, bulging bicepts and seemingly superhuman strength. She was born in Russia, in the year 1989, with spina bifida. This defect meant a portion of her spine didn't close during her development which caused paralysis in the lower half of her body. She grew up in an orphanage and taught herself to walk on her hands. She refused help from others. When she was six, Deborah McFadden, the commissioner for disabilities in the US department of Health was touring Russia and visited Tatyana's orphanage. Deborah was drawn to Tatyana, "She was crawling on the floor bright-eyed and engaging." That night Tatyana told everyone at the orphanage that Deborah was her mother, which was a surprising first. After arriving at Baltimore, her new home with Deborah, she was given a dismal prognosis of living for a year at most. Well needless to say she proved the doctors wrong because of her strong heart and mind. She even joined an athletic group for children with physical disabilities, called the Bennet Blazers. She was competing in wheelchair track in the summer before ninth grade. Tatyana and her mother flew to California so she could try out for the Paralympic Games. She made t1he team at 15, the youngest competitor to date. Because of this she went to the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece and won a silver in 100 meter race and a bronze in the 200 meter. She won four more medals in the Beijing games. In 2013 she was the first athlete to win the Boston, London, Chicogo and New York City Marathons in the same year. She says, "I don't let little things set me back, lime being sick or being in a wheelchair. If I stay mentally strong, I can do anything. I don't even see myself in a chair. That's a little thing." She now has her sights set on skiing in the winter olympics. I wish her luck.