RIO DE JANEIRO — (CNN) The superstars of the Paralympic season are often lauded with recourse to their Olympic counterparts.
Versatile swimmer Daniel Dias is known as Brazil’s answer to Michael Phelps; Jason Smyth, the fastest Paralympian of all time, is sometimes called the ‘Irish Usain Bolt.’
But from a Soviet orphanage to her twelfth Paralympic podium, wheelchair athlete Tatyana McFadden of Clarksville, Maryland isn’t served by commendatory comparisons. As IPC president Sir Philip Craven rightly contends, “Tatyana is great enough already.”
Born with paralyzing congenital disorder Spina bifida, McFadden spent the first six years of her life in Russia walking on her hands.
Left in an orphanage by her mother, her health deteriorated and doctors feared she wouldn’t live long.
That was until she met Deborah, the American visitor who would go on to adopt her.
Sport was Tatyana’s salvation.
Two decades on, having been brought up to believe she can overcome any obstacle, the 27-year-old is competing in every Rio 2016 wheelchair event from the 100 meters to the marathon.
Such is her talent and determination, she could leave Rio with seven medals.
Already with silver to her name from the T54 100m — supposedly her worst event — McFadden added 400m gold Sunday, finishing comfortably ahead of compatriot Cheri Madsen and China’s Lihong Zou.
McFadden also has two consecutive marathon “grand slams” to her name, winning in Boston, London, Chicago and New York — setting a number of new course records in the process.
She claimed gold in every event from 100m sprint to 5,000m at World Championships in 2013.
And two years ago even competed in the winter Paralympics, taking to the Sochi snow in a sit-ski to win a silver medal in the cross-country 1km sprint — a particularly poignant moment, given McFadden was briefly reunited with her biological mother Nina Polevikova.
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