I think it’s safe to say Tatyana McFadden is having a great birthday. On top of turning 25 today, McFadden defended her women’s wheelchair title at the 118th Boston Marathon, finishing the 26.2-mile course in 1 hour 35 minutes and 6 second and shearing nearly 10 minutes off her winning 2013 time.
McFadden competed with the name Martin Richard on her race bib. Martin was the 8-year-old killed in last year’s marathon bombing. McFadden then gave the gold wreath she received at the finish line to Carlos Arredondo, a man who helped victims in the ensuing chaos last year.
This is just the latest victory for the seemingly unstoppable McFadden who made history in 2013 as the first person (male or female, able-bodied or handicapped) to win all four major marathons (London, Boston, Chicago, and New York City) in a single season. She is already well on her way to repeating that historic achievement with a victory in London last weekend and today’s first place in Boston.
And let’s not forget her 11 paralympic medals, the most recent of which is a silver medal won in the women’s cross-country sit-ski at Sochi, which she entered after dominating paralympic track events in the last three summer games. For more on her transition from summer to winter Olympian, read our February 2014 profile of McFadden.