Tatyana McFadden seeks to repeat as NYC Marathon champ

NEW YORK – On Sunday, the unstoppable Tatyana McFadden will vie for her second consecutive New York City Marathon title in the wheelchair division, to add to marathon wins in London, Boston and Chicago.

This year the 10-time summer Paralympic track medalist also made her winter Paralympic debut (in cross country-skiing) and took a silver medal in the 1-kilometer sprint in Sochi, Russia.

During all that, the 25-year-old also earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois, added six world championship gold medals last year in France, met her birth mother in Sochi, and – more recently – broke world track records in 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 meters in June.

"I am so proud of what I've done so far," she said, referring to the road races, "because I have achieved what no one else has – ever – achieved in the history of marathoning.

"Being able to push my limits and pushing the sport gives me a thrill, and it gives me a drive," she said.

McFadden was born with spina bifida, paralyzed from the waist down, and lived in a Russian orphanage until she was adopted at age 6 by an American family.

After Sunday – win or lose – McFadden still has items on her to-do list. She will fly to Japan to make her debut at the Oita International Wheelchair Marathon on Nov. 9 and plans to finish a 480-hour internship as a "child life specialist" at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, in Massachusetts, working with critically ill children and their families.

Also, she said. "It'll be nice just to take a breather and enjoy the holidays."