Cheri Madsen

Cheri Madsen (née Becerra; born September 27, 1976) is an American Paralympic wheelchair racing athlete.

Cheri Madsen
Madsen at the 2015 Parapan American Games
Personal information
Born (1976-09-27) September 27, 1976
Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.[1]
Height155 cm (5 ft 1 in)[2]
Weight52 kg (115 lb)
Sport
SportParalympic athletics
Disability classT54
Event(s)100–800 m

Madsen is a Native American from the Omaha tribe.[3] She grew up in Nebraska, graduating from Nebraska City High School in 1995. Aged three she lost the use of her legs due to an unknown viral infection in her spine. She took up wheelchair racing in 1994 and two years later qualified for the 1996 Paralympics. There, she competed in four events in classification T53, medaling in each. She participated in the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney in the same four events, this time in T54, winning two gold and one silver medal. After that she semi-retired from competitions to build a family – she married Eric Madsen on June 2, 2001 and later gave birth to daughters Reese and Malayna. In 2007 her younger brother and father were killed in a car-train crash. Madsen returned to competitions in 2013 to honor her brother, who was her avid supporter in sport. She qualified for the 2013 IPC World Championships, 2015 Parapan American Games and 2016 Rio Paralympics, medaling on all occasions.[1][2][4][5]

References

  1. Cheri Madsen Archived October 23, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. teamusa.org
  2. "Becerra, Cheri". paralympic.org. Archived from the original on October 25, 2016. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  3. Lisa J. Ellwood (June 16, 2016) Omaha Paralympian Cheri Becerra-Madsen Needs Your Help To Get To Rio Archived November 14, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com
  4. Cheri Madsen Archived October 23, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. rio2016.com
  5. Cheri Madsen. toronto2015.org
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