The remarkable story of Tatyana McFadden

Track & Ball with Ellen White and Richard Whitehead

Her 17 Paralympic medals tell only a small part of the story of Tatyana McFadden. Not many athletes have had such a profound affect on daily life. In America, she's changed the law.

Tatyana was born in the Soviet Union with spina bifida and talks about her early life in an orphanage and the hardships she had to live through. She talks about being adopted and building a new life with her parents in the United States.

She developed a love of sport and at just 14 she was determined to make the US Paralympic team. It was a whirlwind year and on her first overseas trip she won a bronze medal in Athens in 2004.

But the experience was ultimately disappointing. The stadium in Athens was empty and there was little celebration or coverage of Paralympic athletes back home in the USA. So she decided to try to change that!

In this podcast series we're hoping to give you a greater insight into performance sport. We're finding there's always a lot to learn.

So who are we? Ellen White is an England footballer who has been to 3 World Cups. Richard Whitehead is a Paralympic sprinter who won gold in London and Rio.

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