04-14-2022 Howard Magazine - Flipbook - Page 30
“Life isn’t
about what you
don’t have, it’s
about what you
do with the gifts
you’re given.”
— Tatyana McFadden
wheelchair.
“I got [the vehicle] rolling,” she
said. “Someone had to jump in the
car to stop it.”
At times, like a gunslinger, she is
challenged to arm wrestle by those
out to prove themselves. She demurs,
politely.
“I did [arm wrestle] once, in
college, while attending a football
game at Illinois,” she said. “I beat
him. The guy was very nice; he
bought me dinner because I’d won.”
Flirtations stream in over social
media.
“All athletes get them. People
keep asking, ‘Will you marry me?’”
said McFadden who, at present, has
no boyfriend. “I have thought of
[marriage] but my life is busy now.
The time will come.”
Her daily regimen is fixed:
morning roadwork on the street
where she lives, then more turns
on the track at Reservoir High
followed by punishing exercises
at a local gym. There’s no end in
sight. She hopes to compete in two
more Paralympics (2024 and 2028)
and best the world record of 22
medals in track and field. Another
personal goal: 30 victories in major
marathons.
Five years ago, she fought back
from serious illness (blood clots
in her thighs) that required three
surgeries and would have stopped a
lesser athlete.
30 | SPRING 2022 | howardmagazine.com
“I want to hang on as long as
possible,” she said. “If [football’s]
Tom Brady can do it, then so can I.”
How long has she been at it?
McFadden’s first racing wheelchair,
from her teen years, sits in the U.S.
Olympic and Paralympic Museum in
Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Around town, she fends for
herself. At home, the only nod to her
disability is the elevator she takes
from floor to floor.
“People seem fascinated by how I
do things in daily life, like shopping
for groceries,” she said. “They’ll ask,
‘Do you carry a little basket in your
lap?’ No, I just push a regular cart in
front of my wheelchair.”
She has been driving since 16 and
uses hand controls on her Honda
Pilot, which she washes herself in the