Tatyana McFadden Honored To Receive AAU Sullivan Award

During the Paralympic Summer Games Paris 2024, Tatyana McFadden won two medals and brought her career total to 22, making her the most-decorated American Paralympic track-and-field athlete of all time.

On April 7, McFadden had to make more room in her crowded trophy cabinet, as she received the 96th AAU Sullivan Award as the most outstanding American athlete at the collegiate, Olympic or Paralympic level. 

McFadden is the second Paralympic athlete to win the award. 

“I was excited to be nominated. The list of athletes this year was incredible and to (be a) finalist and win is huge, especially for the women and as a Paralympic athlete,” McFadden said.

In 2006, Jessica Long — a 30-time Paralympic medalist as a swimmer who, like McFadden, was born in Russia and now calls Maryland home — became the first Para athlete to earn the Sullivan Award.

“She’s a phenomenal athlete and that’s huge to process. It means people believe in Paralympic sports. It means people know what I do and what I’ve done,” McFadden said. “That’s pretty cool, that I have a lot of loyal fans, friends, and family who all believed I could do this, sponsors too.”

McFadden has medaled in the last six Paralympic Summer Games beginning with Athens in 2004 when she was 15. She is recognized for her consistent success on the track, but also for her longtime advocacy to ensure disabled athletes receive sufficient opportunities to compete.

That advocacy started when her Maryland high school forbade her from racing at the same time with able-bodied competitors. A 2005 lawsuit against the district led the state legislature in 2008 to pass “Tatyana’s Law,” making Maryland the first state to provide equal physical education and athletic opportunities for students with disabilities. 

“I guess I was lucky I found my ‘why’ so young, my passion through the sport,” McFadden said. “I was denied to participate in high school sports. I thought something needs to be done. I came home from Athens and all I wanted to do was participate in high school sports. So, when the last straw was drawn, there was no option than to forget about it or sue. We sued for no money but for the right of people with disabilities to participate in high school sports.

“That’s the different thing about Paralympic athletes — we’re all competitors on the field but off the field, we agree that we want the same thing because every Paralympic athlete goes back home and has to deal with the inequality in their own community and own country.”

Besides her long list of Paralympic accomplishments, McFadden has won 16 world titles and 24 total medals at the world championships. She’s also won the women’s wheelchair division in major marathons like Boston, Chicago, London, and New York multiple times. In 2013, she became the first competitor to win those four races in the same year. 

However, one marathon remains on her to-do list. 

“Honolulu. I’ve never been to Hawai’i and have had a few friends run it. They loved it,” McFadden said. “It’s a beautiful course, a fun, unique course. It’d be a good one to end the season with.”

At the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Summer Paralympics, she also competed alongside younger sister Hannah. 

“It was a really cool experience,” McFadden said. “I can tell people how training is going, what I’m doing, the miles and the lifts that I do, but to have someone in your family go through it, she can validate me for everyone. She 100% understands everything — the stress, learning how to prepare, the ups and downs of the sport. She gets it.”

As an athlete who also played wheelchair basketball, which earned her a scholarship to the University of Illinois, along with swimming, gymnastics and sled hockey, McFadden feels every young athlete can benefit from trying multiple sports. 

“It’s huge. All kids should jump into sports at least once to try everything,” she said. “Even if they’re really good at something, they should at least have one other sport. It’s good to be versatile, good for the body and really good for the mind. You’re working different groups of muscles and the brain because you have to show your muscles how to do that.”

When not competing or preparing for her next competition, McFadden works as a motivational speaker, delivering speeches for various audiences which allows her to further get the word out about all the amazing things her and her fellow Paralympians are doing between the lines and in the world. 

Even though the Los Angeles Games are still more than two years away, she’s already looking forward to her first Paralympics on American soil.

“That’s why I hung on. I’m excited,” McFadden said. “I hope it’s going to change the sport for the better and the way we think about the disability community. I hope that will change, that we’ll get more support. I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be exciting. The stadium is going to be packed and think people are really going to enjoy it.”

Stephen Hunt is a freelance contributor to usatf.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.