U.S. athletes prepare for Paralympic games
July 12th, 2008
From the Baltimore Sun:
Nineteen-year-old Tatyana McFadden, a wheelchair sprint racer from Maryland, is among a growing number of athletes with disabilities who are being sought out by corporate America for sponsorships. A member of the U.S. Paralympic team, McFadden is being featured on 100 million drinking cups in McDonald’s restaurants across the country, and is also featured in a television commercial for Hilton Hotels Corp.
As unseemly behavior among able-bodied athletes has become more prevalent in recent years, corporate America has increased its efforts to reach out to athletes with disabilities, said Dave Rosenberg, executive vice president of GMR Marketing, a San Francisco firm that matched McFadden with Hilton.
McFadden was born in Russia with spina bifida and spent her first six years in an orphanage. Unable to walk, she got around on her hands. She was adopted and brought to the United States by Deborah McFadden, a commissioner for disabilities in the U.S. Department of Health and Human services.
As a high school student, McFadden successfully sued for the right to share the track with teammates in Howard County, then testified in support of state legislation requiring schools to provide disabled students access to sports programs. That bill passed in April.
See also: Georgia man is first Iraq veteran to qualify for Paralympics — Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
(Hilton photo of Tatyana McFadden)
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