WHOOP Podcast - Overcoming obstacles: Paralympic athlete Tatyana McFadden talks about the power of sport and the importance of mindset and how

Episode Date: July 28, 2022

This week's episode features arguably the greatest female wheelchair racer of all time, Tatyana McFadden, who has won 20 Paralympic medals, 24 World Marathon majors, and 4 consecutive Grand Slams. She joins the podcast to share how she's overcome the many obstacles she has been faced with in her life, how sport saved her life, and how she advocates for others with disabilities. Tatyana and host Will Ahmed discuss her story of growing up in an orphanage in Russia (3:23), her transition to wheelchair racing (6:23), how sports saved her life (9:11),  how she prepares for her races (18:24), how she uses WHOOP (19:07), how she prioritizes sleep (24:07), what it took to overcome a lymphedema (30:22), advice for those who are struggling (36:58), and the goals she's working toward (39:24) next.Support the showFollow WHOOP: www.whoop.com Trial WHOOP for Free Instagram TikTok YouTube X Facebook LinkedIn Follow Will Ahmed: Instagram X LinkedIn Follow Kristen Holmes: Instagram LinkedIn Follow Emily Capodilupo: LinkedIn

What's up, folks? Welcome back to the WOOP podcast, where we sit down with top performers, athletes, researchers, scientists, and more to learn what the best in the world they're doing to perform at their peak and what you can do to unlock your own best performance. I'm your host Will Amit, founder and CEO of Woop, and we are on a mission to unlock human performance. We have a great guest this week, an inspiring guest. This week's episode features one of the most successful athletes of all. time Tatiana McFadden. She has 20 Paralympic medals, including eight gold medals, 24 world major marathon wins, including four consecutive Grand Slam. So this is pretty amazing. First place in Boston, Chicago, New York City, and London in the same year,

and has broken five world records in track and field. We definitely dive into all of Tatiana's success as an athlete and a performer. But I have to call out just how inspiring her background is, too. She was born in Russia, raised in Baltimore. She was born with spina bifida, a congenital disorder that paralyzed her from the waist down. And for the first six years of her life, she had to walk on her hands because the orphanage she was in was too poor to afford a wheelchair for her. Tatiana and I sit down to discuss how she went from living in an orphanage in Russia to

excelling as a young athlete in the States, what her training schedule looks like and what it demands of her body, which recovery techniques have helped her take on an aggressive competition and training schedule, how she continues to advocate for the inclusion of all athletes in sport, especially fitting as we close out Disability Pride Month this July, and what it took to recover from a potentially career-ending blood clotting condition and how she uses whoop to fine-tune her performance. Tatiana is an amazing guest. We're going to get you in half a second.

A reminder, you can use the code Will to get a $60 credit on whoop accessories. This includes bands, battery packs, and our whoop body apparel. Woop body apparel, including gear for training and for everyday wear, makes wearables accessible for everyone by giving you ways to wear whoop off your wrist. The thinking here is, of course, if you're doing an activity or you're going to an event and you don't want something on your wrist, you can now wear your sensor elsewhere on your body. We also have new ways to interact with the Whoop Podcast. You can email us, podcast atwoop.com, or you can call our new listener line and leave a question or comment. That's 508-443-4952. And without further ado, here is Tatiana McFaddy. Tatiana, welcome to the Whoop Podcast. Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Long overdue, you have such an inspiring story. And of course, the bonus is you also wear Whoop, which I love, obviously. You were born in Russia. And for the first six years of your life, if I understand this correctly, you walked on your hands because the orphanage you were in was too poor to afford a wheelchair. chair for you. Is that accurate? Yeah, so I was born with spina bipida, and so that's where you have a hole in your back and your spine sticks out. And usually, you know, you get surgery immediately after birth. And so there's absolutely no complications and you can close it back up and go on your way. But for me,

that wasn't the case. It took 21 days to be upgraded. And so I was born in 89. So in Russia, that was the fall of communism. So it was a pretty drastic change for Russia at the time. And, you know, having a disability, they don't recognize that in third rural countries. And one of them is Russia. And my birth mother could not take care of me with the finances and resources during that time with having a disabled child. And so she put me in orphanage number 13, and they're all numbered. They're not labeled anything specific. And I lived there for the first six years in my life. And the orphanage did not receive, you know, the funding.

So I didn't have a wheelchair. I didn't have any medical treatments, in fact, for the first six years of my life. On top of that, no schooling either. So how I got around the orphanage, because I was that stubborn, determined kid, my phrase was Yasima, which means I can do it in Russian. And so I scooted on the floor or walked on my hands. And that was the way I knew how to get around. That's all I had, right?

I had myself. And so I used those resources. And some people are like, well, it's how much strength in your arms and your back. And maybe that's why you're so successful. And I was like, maybe. Or maybe it instilled in you a sense of profound determination and survival, right? I mean, your story is one of enormous determination. And I can't really imagine what those first six years were like,

but it seemed like for you, you didn't know the alternative, and you took it on. Yes, that's correct. I was determined and I was determined to be where all the other kids were, and I was determined how to get there. There weren't people there to help you. And so I had myself, and it did build that determination into my career for sure. Do you remember what it felt like to start then using a wheelchair?

I felt really fast. When I arrived in the U.S., my parents got me this little red wheelchair. And I remember just going as fast as I could either down the hill. And my parents were like running towards me to make sure I wasn't going to crash because I never knew how to use a wheelchair. And I thought doing wheelies was like the coolest thing ever. And I had so much fun. but it gave me that freedom to be faster

and to obviously keep up with society. I mean, do you think some of that carried directly into your career, this feeling of wanting to go fast in a wheelchair? Well, it transitioned really nicely into wheelchair racing because growing up, I was part of the local Paris Sports Club called the Bennett Blazers through Kennedy Krieger. And I grew up playing ice hockey and wheelchair basketball and table tennis and archery and fencing and finally I tried wheelchair racing. I loved it and I think

it was just like my day chair. It was like I felt faster. But in a racing chair, you know, being more aerodynamic, you were a little more quicker. So I really liked it and I liked how it, you know, it was such an individual thing and you could work on, you know, your own goals and how how fast you wanted to go and practice your turning and I wasn't good. But I had so much fun and that all changed when I was in eighth grade watching the trials on TV and there was a lot of hype around the Olympics when I was starting eighth grade. And I remember writing down my academic goals. And in the academic goals, I also wrote down, going to make the 2012 team. And I did that just that summer right before I entered into high school.

That's amazing. So you see the Olympics and you say, that's me, and you write that down as a goal. And you're saying at the time you didn't think you were that remarkable yet, or you had started to see signs that you were quite talented. I got into the racing chair when I was seven years old, and it took a while for the coronation to happen. But I think I started to really get fast, maybe when I was like 13 years old. That's when I had a lot of people come up and saying, wow, like, you have a lot of like good potential in the future.

But I was so, I was young. They're like, you're so young. You're not going to make the team when you're like 15 years old. And, well, I thought otherwise. I was like, you know what? I'm going to have fun. I'm going to go to trials. And I'm going to see how it goes.

And by that time, I was 12 or 13, I was practicing every single day before and after school. And I just, I really, like, took to wheelchair racing. My parasy sports club coach, like, really, really helped me go into And Jerry and set up a training program. And that was my dream. I thought, well, I really want to be an Olympic athlete representing Team USA. And at the time, I didn't know what Paralympics were. We had to do the research of where Paralympic trials were going to be, what the Paralympic was. It's mainstreamed in the media now, but when I started my career, I couldn't find it anyway.

We had to do the search. I also imagine you had so many doubters, maybe not giving you the encouragement that another up-and-coming athlete who looked more like an everyday athlete would have gotten at a younger age. Is that fair? I think I would say, yeah, it's all pretty accurate. The doctors definitely, you know, they went by the rule books, you know, of what they learned in academics and, you know, they looked at somebody with like me at the time and thought,

oh, yeah, she is definitely not going to be successful. And sports, like sports saved my life. Growing up, that local parisports club was essentially rehab to me. It allowed me to get not only physically stronger, but mentally stronger. So I became more confident in myself in saying, well, I believe I can do this. And my parents were like, absolutely, the Parasports Club was like, absolutely, we believe that you can do that. And they were, you know, that did teachers. And they really ingrained that in me growing up.

And so I was so, like, fortunate to have that positivity in sports growing up and with my parents as well, you know, having them believe in me and that I wanted to do track later on. They were like, go for it. we let's do it let's go to trials and I was so young and a lot of people said you know she's so young to make the team she's going against everyone twice her age you know we're not sure she's going to make it but you know by Beijing absolutely and um I beat against all odds and I made the team that year and the one two and four let's talk for a second about the specific act of the race What are some similarities in your mind to how the average fan would perceive an event,

like the 400, for example? And what are some aspects to it that you may not appreciate given the nuance of the sport? The one misleading thing is that we don't have any gears on our racing tier. So it is 100% upper body strength. It is your back muscles. It is your biceps and use your triceps. And so we're using much smaller group of muscles compared to your legs. Wow, yeah.

And so we really have to be very strategic on how we train. The amount of volume that we train, the amount of how we recover is especially important, a little bit more so, I think, compared to ambulatory running because we are using a much smaller group of muscles and we have to protect our wrists and our elbows and our shoulders as well because over time, that can be over. it's kind of like baseball players right or like football players you really have to protect you know your shoulders and people don't think that you know they think that they just go out and train but they spent a lot of the time focusing on on recovery sure so I think that's the misleading thing and that coordination that hand-eye coordination you need it for wheelchair racing because we're not looking at our wheels we're looking straight ahead and we know exactly where to hit on our raising to our hand rims,

the little tiny 15-inch rim that goes around your wheel. The other aspect that's fascinating to me about your career is you're not only the best in the world at these speed events, but you've also become the best in the world at marathons.

That would be like Usain Bolt being the fastest marathoner. It just doesn't happen. So at what point did you get really into, marathon training. And then we'll talk about the success you've had. I got into marathon training when I was a freshman in college in 2009. My coach at the time at the university said, oh, Tatiana, like, you should do a marathon. And let's try, like, let's try Chicago because it's our local one. He was like, you're going to be known for marathoning. Like, forget the, you know, Paralympics. This is it. He was like, the road racing is it. At the time I've come.

from a sprinting background. So I did the 100, 200, 400, 800 was my top, like, was my highest event was the eight. So I thought, how in the world am I going to run 26.2 miles? So I kept saying, no, like, I'm okay. And finally, he said, Tatiana, like, your 400 meter is your favorite event. And that was my best event in 2009. And he was like, just think about racing that about 100 times or so.

you finish the marathon. And I just looked in him and I was like, you know, what the heck? Like, I'll just do this for fun and we'll make it recreational. And we'll just see what happens. Like, I'll help my teammate Amanda, who is one of the best, you know, marathon there's in 2009. And she's won Chicago previously. And so I was like, yeah, like, I'll go. I'll help her. I call my mom. And I was like, hey, mom, I'm going to be doing the Chicago Marathon. She's like, okay, I'll book my flight and I'll come. I was so nervous getting on to that starting line. I thought, okay, just make it like halfway with the group. And so that's what I did.

I made it halfway with the group. And then I was like, okay, just make it to like mile 20 with the group. And so I finally made it to mile 20. And I was very impressed with myself. And I was like, wow, I'm in a pack of 10 women. This is so cool. Like, I am still hanging on. And so when we came to mile 25, I looked at my teammate and I was like, we're approaching the finish soon.

Like, what's our game plan here? And she was like, well, she was like, let's set ourselves up because there's a climb at the end and then you go down the hill. And I was like, all right, I'll like help set you up, you know. And so I helped to set up my teammate. she got behind me and I climbed as fast as I could up and then sprinted my heart out to the finish. And as I was coming down to the finish line, they were announcing, you know, the first pack of women coming in. And then my mom, she was like reaching down for her camera thinking I was going to be in the second group and not the first group. And the woman that she was next to, she was like, I think that was like your daughter that like crossed the finish line first actually. So that was pretty funny that my mom was reaching for her. camera during that time as well. It's amazing. The rest is, you know, like, I don't want to say history, but every year I added on a race.

So the following year in 2010, I added the New York City Marathon. I didn't add Chicago until 2011 because I was so intimidated by Chicago Marathon. The downhill, I was like, that is such a big downhill. I don't know if I could do it. Like, this is such a prestigious race. It's so intimidating. And finally, it bucked it up, and I did it. and I happen to win that year as well.

And roadways thing is so different. It's a very different community. I love it. I really, really enjoy it. It brought something else to me. I imagine from a mental standpoint, it takes you to a slightly different place. I mean, I guess I've never spoken to anyone

who's been world class at a 400 meter race and a marathon. But describe your mental strategy for each of those. Yeah, so for an event, Like the 400 meters or even in 800 meters, you are very focused, but only for a short amount of time. In the marathons, you're focused pretty much the entire way. So it's a different type of fatigue as well. And I was exhausted, like when I did my marathons for the first couple years mentally because it was a lot of focus. You're focusing who's around you, your turns, either left or right, you know, the downhill sprint.

Who's going to sprint down that hill? Who's going to sprint up that hill? You know, what's your tactic towards the end? And so you're constantly, your mind's constantly going. Unless you break away and you get by yourself, then you just look at your speed radar and you just try to keep a consistent pace. So, yeah, it's a longer, much longer focus. It's so fascinating. Now, do you think that one has helped the other, or do you think in a certain way, you know, the marathon

training actually could slow down some of your sprinting or, you know, vice versa. No, I think it still helps because you get overspeed training and you do a lot of overspeed training. You did a lot of climbs. And so that's all really good for events on the track, like your starts, you know, the air acceleration, how high you can get up to your speed and how long you can hold it. So I think it really does help. Of course, doing the 100 meter is really quite difficult. So, you know, when I come closer to the track events, I really have to really focus on the 100 meter and more of that quickness because that race is over in like 16 seconds. As a world-class competitor, do you have any strategies for preparing for these events,

like any visualization techniques or meditation techniques, mindfulness, anything that helps you kind of get centered or picture the path to success? Yeah, well, one, big goal is always staying healthy to, you know, leading up to the race, definitely visualization from start to finish and, you know, replaying that in your head, doing some breathing techniques, a little bit of meditation as well. I like to listen to music. Maybe you take a little short nap or just close my eyes and just do visualization there of the race and, you know, plan A, B, and C of what could happen. And you've been on Woop for a little while now. How long you've been on WOOP? I've been on WOOP for, yeah, for quite a while, maybe 18, 18, 19.

So a while, so years. What have you gotten out of it? How'd you get into it? Well, I was really fortunate to be contacted and I was researching different ways to always track heart rate, whether if you're sleeping, whether if you're working out, just that continuous track is really, really important because my coach has always been, you know, hounding me. Tatiana, what is your heart rate? How are you doing today? Because he was like, everything's driven around heart rate. And it's true. It really is. So are you recovering during your sleep, you know, and does your heart rate elevating during your workout? You know, if you feel like your heart rate's low, but you're putting a lot of effort, something else is happening.

And so it was been a really good thing for me to use because then I know that when I'm in good shape and in good form, you know, my heart rate is, you know, around 48, 47 in there. Resting heart rate, yeah. But then if I'm, you know, sick or something else is happening, then I'm waking up with a heart rate, you know, that was 60. So, for example, like when I was training for the Boston Marathon this year, when I was doing my whole workouts, my heart rate was relatively low, but I felt like I was working extremely hard. So I was like, this is so weird. Maybe it's just like the course. I switched coaches. I was

lifting three times a week. My workout was really different. So I was like, maybe I'm just getting used to this change that I'm having. Because all athletes give excuses. And we always blame it on our training. And so finally he was like, yeah, no, this is like really off. Like your heart rate should be a lot better. And he was like, you're working, like, extremely hard. And so he was like, let me know what it is when you wake up. And it was, you know, elevated when I was waking up. It was around 60 or 65. And so I wasn't recovering at all. And so my doctor said, you know, oh, because I've been feeling really tired. And she was like, let's just get like blood work done and see what it comes back.

And so I was on my way to Boston when my blood work came back. And like my iron levels were like, critical, critical, critical, critical. And I was like, well, that explains a lot of things, why my heart rate was really high and why I felt like I was working extremely, extremely hard. Even like eight miles, I felt like winded when I did these workouts. And, you know, due to COVID, it was really hard to, you know, be in person for your doctor's appointments.

You had to do everything virtual. So, you know, sometimes your labs or when you see them in person, it's just very different than coming in being one-on-one with your doctor and getting all the panels done. And so she was like, your iron was like a 12 and you should be like a 156. Whoa, yeah. So it was really, really low. And clearly it wasn't recovering very well. And then another time, it's really great to keep track of heart rate. A while ago, I got COVID because we live in a family of five.

And so I was, again, I woke up and I was like, oh, my heart rate's like elevated. Like, that's so weird, you know, like, because I didn't find out until like my family tested. And so they came back positive and I was asymptomatic. And so it came back positive. Keeping track of your heart rate is to be a lesson learned for everyone that it's really good to keep track of it, especially because you know what your resting rate is. You know, you know what your max is. Like my max would be about up to like 200. And so if you keep track of that and with your mileage, you kind of get a really good estimate of where you should be during during training and when

you wake up especially because you know if you're recovering properly through the night. Yeah, what a powerful story. I mean, it sounds like you might not have known that about your body had you not been measuring it. But that's been a theme for WOOP since the company was founded, which is that there's certain things that you can't necessarily feel about your body and you need to be able to measure. And those measurements can be a leading indicator to something serious going on. Absolutely. Yeah. For us, Tatiana, it's why we've had a big focus in the last two years on the health monitoring features. And we did a lot of alerts during COVID even where people used an elevated respiratory rate to realize that they had COVID.

So as a theme for us, it's a huge investment in something we're really proud of. And I'm glad you got those benefits out of it. Now, let's talk about sleep for a second. What's your sleep routine like? Do you have any hacks that our audience should know about to enhance their sleep? So I'm definitely a night owl, which is bad, because I have to get up early to train, and especially if I have two days, you know, to fit two training sessions in with enough recovery in between. And so shutting my body down is like really,

really hard. So to get myself relaxed, I make some camel and little tea and I have honey. I lay in bed and I try to, you know, read a book. I try not to get on my phone an hour before sleep because that, you know, could be like, you could end up watching like TikToks until like 3 a.m. So not being on your phone. And just kind of, you know, laying there and just learning to relax as well. What kind of helps is also taking a hot, like steamy shower or, you know, a bath. If you can't get, you know, relax. I do that after I travel because sometimes that's really, you know, after a long day of traveling, you're still kind of like excited or. you know, just can't get settled down. I found that really, really helps as well. And then I also

do Norma Tech before I go to sleep too, just kind of getting my body relaxed and start the recovery process. And so I try to be in bed, you know, by like 10. You strike me as someone who's also generally upbeat, happy. Is that something you consciously are striving to be? Is it something it just comes very naturally? Well, I love what I do, and I love beating new people, and I love the running community. And so I'm always so excited whenever I go to competitions and whenever I go to Team USA events or whenever I go to marathons,

it's like I thrive in that environment, and I love it. I love training and the support from the community. You know, I'm back in Maryland, and people are so nice. You know, they wave and they, like, shout, and they cheer. So that makes me feel really good. Well, not surprisingly, you've also become an amazing activist and champion for athletes who are disabled. And in, let's see, 2008, you challenged your own school, which ultimately led to the passing of the fitness and athletics equity for studies, with Disabilities Act, and that requires schools to provide equal opportunities for students

with disabilities to participate in, you know, PE programs, athletic teams, etc. And that has become federal law as of 2013. So what was that whole experience like? And congratulations on what you accomplished. Thank you. That was probably one of my hardest experiences because I had come home from the games in Athens with the silver and bronze to my name, and I wasn't allowed to participate on my high school track team. So that means not getting in a uniform, denying to race along of others on the track. And I was the only female wheelchair racers. So there wasn't, you know, like 20 of us or even five. And so I thought to myself, wow, it's the 21st century and I am being discriminated 100% on my high school track team. And so I went to my mom

and she was one of the 12 authors of the ADA and she's worked for the government before. And so I asked her, I was like, what can I do so I could be an equal member? What can I do so that other people with disabilities can be equal members of their high school track team? because what we're teaching them is that it's 100% okay to discriminate someone with a disability. And my younger sister, Hannah, is also a Paralympic athlete. She has a prosthetic leg, and at the time she was racing track, and I knew that she wanted to be on the high school track team when she was in high school. And so my mom said, you know, we could try making phone calls, and that didn't work.

So the only option was to sue, and we sued for no damages. but for the right to be fully equal in the world of sports. And it was really hard to do a lot of, it was bullied all the time in high school because people didn't understand, you know, why I was doing this. They didn't understand what wheelchair racing was. And they didn't understand, you know, what disability was either. And my own teammates even wrote into the Baltimore son saying,

you know, people like her should be in sports of her own kind. And I was like, what does that even mean? And so it was awful. And I got booed a lot going to the track meets, but doing this lawsuit and meant, you know, so much more, you know, it meant giving a voice for those who couldn't fight this. And I knew that I was strong enough to fight it. I knew that I had a voice because, you know, being at the Paralympic Games, representing Team USA, I knew that I wanted to use my voice for the good.

And so I knew this was going to be really hard. And as a high schooler, it was definitely really hard. But if you think about it, that law took relatively fast to pass being federal in 2013. Usually that would take a lot longer than that. Probably like today that it would finally be passed. The judges knew it was the right thing to do. But now it's forever set in stone. And it makes me really proud that first,

athletes with disabilities that it could never be taken away from them. Yeah, I mean, I just can only imagine what you had to go through in order to get that passed and approved and amazing testament to you as an athlete, but really you as a person. Thank you. Let's get into another challenge that you managed to overcome or setback. You were diagnosed in 2017 with lymphdema. Did I say that right? I was diagnosed with a blood cladding disorder, so it gave me lymphedema. But I've made their nurse syndrome.

So it's like, I make fun of myself, but I call it like the old person disease. It's slow blood flow, you know, to your heart. Which sounds like a challenge, especially for a professional athlete, let alone anyone. You were physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted. How did you overcome this one? That was probably one of the toughest points in my career in 2017. because I was on such a high of winning absolutely everything from 2012 and on, including all the major marathons and the grand slams and four golds.

And in Rio, yeah, in Rio, you had just won four golds and two silvers. You're kind of at the peak of your powers. That was the best result you had ever had in an Olympics, or Paralympics. So this must have come out of left field. Yeah, it was really hard. So I didn't find out until I was, you know, at a training camp and I wasn't feeling very well. And so I was like, okay, is it a cold? Is it like allergies?

Like what's happening? And when I found out that it was blood clots, you know, I had to take certain precautions to even fly home. But they did three surgeries to try to break up the clots, but they were like set in stone. So they were not moving. And it was really painful. So I have, you know, feeling in my legs all the way up to my knees. And getting into that racing chair, it was so hard because, and I also gained 15 pounds from lymphedema.

And I felt awful. And I didn't know where my career was going to head. I didn't know what the recovery process was. And, you know, I asked them my medical team, and I said, Tatiana, you can get back into racing. It's just going to take you 18. to 20 months to recover from your last, like, surgery. So I had to really learn to be, one, to be patient, two, to take that recovery process even more seriously. And, you know, I had to change up my training. I couldn't be in my racing chair as long. I just spend a little bit more time,

you know, in the gym and a little less time in the chair. And I didn't know where my career was going to go. I didn't know if I was going to win any more. marathons. I didn't know if I was going to be able to get back to what I'd love to do. But I just tried to stay focused on the little things in that day. And it was hard. There were some days where I was like, I don't know. I told my parents, like, I don't know if I can do it. And they said, Tatiana, like, you got this. Just, you know, just stay focused and you will recover. And we kept a really, really close, close eye on it. But it was hard. It was very hard to be getting back. But once I was on that starting line, it felt really thankful to be back and to be able to

raise. Yeah, mine had not been my top form, but I was getting back into it. I'm not being so scared. And I got so many wonderful positive comments from social media from other runners who got blood clots and saying, thank you for being so brave. I also have, you know, blood clotting issues. There are other professional athletes on the Olympics. If you look at Serena Williams, she's had blood clotting disorder as well. And so I felt like I wasn't alone in it. And it's something that it should really be talked about. I feel like more because other athletes have this and then taking precautions and have gotten back into their sport as well.

I think there's a NASCAR driver that has it as well. I'm not sure if he's driving anymore. But it felt nice not to be alone. Yeah, I mean, it's just, it's amazing listening to your story and hearing this theme of like enormous setback, you taking it on, you learning from it, and then you almost becoming a spokesperson for the challenge. And it's hard to define a better way to overcome challenges than what you've demonstrated throughout your life is what I described something that is sort of a conscious effort of yours. Or is it something that you feel like has come naturally? There's a couple of reasons. One, I think definitely growing up in the orphanage probably has given me that will and that determination to overcome some of the challenges there. I actually did a film with a miracle body, Gailup Jussel did as well.

And they were amazed to find when they did the scan of my brain that the will part, and my brain was higher than the average person. And so I felt like that was driven from, you know, my journey living in the orphanage, my journey from, oh, trying sports, you know, I want to get better. And, you know, some of the setbacks, my family was having that biggest support, gave me that will to keep trying. I felt like if I didn't have that support for my family, I probably would have quit, you know, but they were really, really helping me into keep going and saying,

Tedana, you got this, you know, just we're here. You also strike me as someone who's very self-aware and grateful for your environment. Is that something you consciously think about being grateful and thankful? Or is it something that just comes naturally to you? I've always been really grateful, especially after being adopted age six, because I probably wouldn't have lived as long. You know, once you move into that adult orphanage, you know, they do not accept kids with disabilities. You know, I don't know where my life would be.

I probably wouldn't have lived, you know, past 18 years old. Or if I did, I would probably be a homeless person living on their streets. And so I'm very grateful. Yeah. So I'm thankful for my parents that they chose me and being adopted and just really living that wonderful life because, yeah, sometimes I do think about what could have been, which is awful. If you meet someone who is going through a challenging time and maybe lack some of that will or is at a real low and they don't see the light at the end of the tunnel, what would you say to them?

You know, I would definitely say that, one, you're not alone to find the resources around you. You know, whether if that's your close family or friends or, you know, aside. I have a wonderful sports psychologist and we've been working together since 2012 and she makes sure that my act is together on race day and everybody needs someone like that and so it's been just wonderful working with her and you know I really do believe you know the negativity if you believe it then it you know it will happen and so it's reteaching your brain and sort of rewiring it And I've always believed that a lot of times when we fall into our lows, it's because we're comparing ourselves. And so we can't do that.

You know, I believe that life isn't what you don't have. It's what you do with the gifts that you're given. And I learned that at a really young age, and I was lucky to learn that because through sports, it gave me that confidence in myself. But I was the only person in a wheelchair in high school. Well, I stuck out like a sore thumb. You know, if I spent my time comparing about what I didn't have, man, I would be living a really sad life. And so I know that I can't do that. And everyone has something wonderful to give.

We all want to see it, you know? We all want to be inspired. So I think that's the important thing to remember. Who inspires you? Definitely my parents. and I loved falling along with the William sisters in tennis because they really paved the way for women in sports and in tennis. I mean, they grew up being discriminated,

and I grew up being discriminated in high school, and they really became a voice for their sport, and that's what I want to do in our sport, and just make it grow and teach and educate people and see how far we can go and see how many more marathons I can win and continue to push myself. At this stage in your career,

are you still saying, okay, I want to win this many more marathons, or is it more about the process and just putting yourself in the best position every marathon? Like, how specific are you with goal setting now? Pretty specific. I mean, my end goal would be to win you know, 30 major marathons.

I don't think anyone can... Wow, that would be awesome. I don't think anyone can reach that record. So I'm like, I got to get there. And then I want to, you know, hopefully win four medals in Paris. And definitely, you know, in L.A., I definitely want to take as much home gold as I can for Team USA and having a home gains. That would probably be a really, really, really big goal that I'll be working towards

and make sure I'm in prime shape and peak by then. Do you find that there's a fair amount of camaraderie amongst Paralympic competitors, or is it very competitive and you don't talk that much? I could picture both ways. I do feel like there is a special commodity amongst the Paralympic athletes because, I mean, don't get me wrong, we're on that starting line. We're ready to go and getting competitive mode. But I also believe that, you know, we, we share stories about what we're doing in our own communities and what needs to be done so we can further our sports.

So, you know, we could further the education about Paralympics because I want, you know, I want L.A. to be successful and have the same amount of TV coverage as the Olympics by L.A. You know, is it high goal? Yes. But can we hopefully get there? I hope so. But it takes that teamwork and that effort. And it's been amazing to talking to athletes all around the world and, you know, talking to them about what they're doing in their own communities, what needs to be done. Being each other's allies is really important when we want to push topics that maybe, you know, people don't want to touch, but we want to, you know, continue that talk.

And so it's very important for us to be a really big ally to one each other. well and i also think just having you in the sport is a game changer for that viewership goal that you just set out i mean it makes a big big difference for a sport to have uh an ambassador like you who's so inspiring and who's overcome so much and i really mean that you know i think you're you're a true inspiration and and as a consequence uh i believe that the sport will keep growing with you at the helm. Thank you. I appreciate that. Of course.

Well, I'll say this. Very grateful to have you on Woop, and I hope it continues to give you good insights, hopefully slightly more positive than the last big eureka moment. It's getting better. Maybe more green recoveries will be the eureka for you on game day. But this has been a real pleasure, Tatiana. Thank you.

Thank you for having me. Thank you to Tatiana for coming. on the WOOP podcast. If you like the WIPP podcast, please leave us a rating or review. Don't forget to subscribe to the WIP podcast. You can check us out on social at WOOP or at Will Ahmed. You can email the WOOP podcast, podcast at WOOP.com. Or you can call our new listener line and leave a question or comment. That is 508-443-4952. New members can use the code W-I-L-L to get a $60 credit on Woop Accessories. That is at join.wop.com. And that's it for this week. We'll be back next week. Stay healthy folks. Stay in the

green.