CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Paralympic medalist Tatyana McFadden will serve as grand marshal of the University of Illinois’ homecoming parade next week.
The 2014 graduate has dominated wheelchair racing in recent years. She’s won 17 Paralympic medals, including seven golds, since her first appearance at the Games in Athens in 2004 at the age of 15.
In 2013, she became the first athlete to win four major marathons in a single year — in Chicago, London, New York and Boston. She has repeated the feat each year since.
The parade will be Oct. 28 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
McFadden graduated with a degree in human development and family studies.
She was born with spina bifida and lived in a Russian orphanage before being adopted and brought to the U.S. at age 6.