Bronze medal – Athens 2004 T54 200m

On 21 September 2004, two days after her breakthrough silver in the 100m, Tatyana McFadden earned a bronze medal in the women’s T54 200m at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games.[13][3] Competing in the sprint events as a teenage newcomer, she demonstrated range across multiple distances and consolidated her status as one of the most promising wheelchair racers in the world.[13]

This second medal in Athens further established McFadden’s Paralympic credentials and showed that her first podium was no anomaly.[3] She left the Games with hardware in two events and the experience of racing under the intense pressure of international finals, providing a foundation for her later dominance from 100m to the marathon.[13][9]

Historically, the bronze in the 200m contributed to growing recognition of women’s wheelchair sprinting as a highly competitive discipline within the Paralympic movement.[12][15] McFadden’s performances helped shift narratives away from purely inspirational coverage toward appreciation of technical skill, training, and tactical race execution by disabled women athletes.[7][10] For young disabled girls watching Athens 2004, seeing a 15-year-old Paralympian medaling twice in sprint events offered a powerful representation of possibility in elite sport.