Women’s wheelchair race report: McFadden claims hat-trick of London wins
Unbeatable Tatyana McFadden continues to reign supreme in wheelchair athletics after she claimed her third victory in a row at the Virgin Money London Marathon today. Her achievement was marked with a gold medal as the race was part of the IPC Athletics Marathon World Championships.
The American clocked 1:41:14 to set a new course record, knocking over four minutes off her own course record, which she set in London 12 months ago.
Six days ago, McFadden also claimed her third successive Boston title. It means among today’s tally of success, she also wins the Boston-London Challenge title for the third time and an extra $10,000 in prize money.
“It’s a wonderful victory and a great day for Team USA,” McFadden beamed after the race. “We had a hard time in London 2012 so it’s great to finally bring home some medals.”
Going into the race, the world’s best female wheelchair athletes had travelled the globe to be part of the double marathon challenge. Among them was defending world champion Manuela Schaer of Switzerland and past winner – and McFadden’s team-mate – Amanda McGrory, who is also an established athlete on the circuit.
The wet conditions meant that more debris than usual had washed onto the roads.
“It was really tough,” said McFadden. “We didn’t know if it would rain all day or just in the morning. I was just scared about getting punctures all the way round.”
The silver medal today went to Manuela Schaer, who finished in a time of 1:43:56, followed by McGrory who crossed the line in 1:46:25.
Schaer was content with second place on a difficult day. “It was really tough,” she said. “I struggled in the first half; it cost me too much energy. I really wanted to keep up with Tatyana. I was actually able to keep up with her on the hills, but after the hills she attacked again and that was just too much.”
At 26, McFadden has had a career many wheelchair athletes can only dream about. From sprints to long-distance races, the young star has already won back-to-back marathons in Boston, London, Chicago and New York in 2013 and 2014. Two years ago she won a record six gold medals at the World Championships in Lille across all distances.
Like many of the women competing today, McFadden is looking ahead to the Rio Paralympics next year.
“I’m gearing up for Chicago and New York Marathon. There’s a lot of training to do before Rio, where I’ll do all the track and the Marathon.”
Briton Shelly Woods was disappointed to drop out of the race after a puncture put her out of contention.
