2013 Finalists for Sportswoman of the Year - Tatyana McFadden (Paralympic Track & Field) - CAST YOUR VOTE...

Tatyana McFadden (Paralympic Track & Field) – USA

Won gold in the Women’s T54 400m, 800m and 1500m events, and won a bronze medal in the 100m event at the London Paralympic Games (September, 2012). Won the Women’s Wheelchair division of the 2013 Boston Marathon (April, 2013). Won gold in the Women’s T54 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m and 5000m events at the 2013 U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships (June). Led Team USA’s medal haul with six gold medals in the Women’s T54 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m and 5000m events at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships (July). Became the first woman to ever win six medals in the same IPC Athletics World Championships (July).

Votes can be cast at wspr.tc/VoteSOY2013 through 

11:59 p.m. ET on Sept. 9.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Aug. 15, 2013 U.S. Paralympians finalists for 2013 Sportswoman of the Year awards Katie Holloway, Tatyana McFadden finalists for Women’s Sports Foundation honor COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Women’s Sports Foundation announced this week that U.S. Paralympians Katie Holloway and Tatyana McFadden are finalists for the 2013 Sportswoman of the Year awards. Fans can vote online atwspr.tc/VoteSOY2013 through Sept. 9 for Holloway, a sitting volleyball player, and McFadden, a track and field athlete. The Sportswoman of the Year awards, given in the individual (McFadden) and team (Holloway) athlete categories, will be awarded at the Women's Sports Foundation’s 34th Annual Salute to Women in Sports on Oct. 16 in New York. Finalists for the 2013 Sportswoman of the Year Award ballot have distinguished themselves by their outstanding, and often record breaking, athletic performances from Aug. 13, 2012-July 31, 2013. Holloway (Edmond, Okla.) had a tremendous impact on the success of the U.S. Paralympic Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team, earning the distinction of the Best Spiker at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Starting all 17 sets that Team USA played in London, she led Team USA in scoring in four Paralympic matches, finishing with 98 points on 80 kills, nine blocks and seven aces. Her best match was the gold medal game against China, where she scored 33 points on 28 kills, three blocks and two aces, although it was not enough for the U.S. victory. She returned to the court in December to help Team USA win the 2012 Volleyball Masters tournament in the Netherlands. Holloway was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Later that month, she was named USA Volleyball’s Female Sitting Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. Holloway also helped the U.S. team sweep a series of exhibition matches against the Russian National Team in May 2013. Currently, she is in Moscow, Russia, for an international event and will compete again in October in the Zonal Championships against Brazil, Canada and Colombia. A graduate of California State University – Northridge, where she was the first amputee ever to play NCAA Division I women’s basketball, Holloway recently accepted a position as a recreational therapist with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Palo Alto, Calif. Holloway also serves as the Paralympic Summer Team Sports Representative on the United States Olympic Committee’s Athletes Advisory Council. McFadden (Clarksville, Md.) medaled in an impressive four of five events at the Paralympic Games, taking the top prize in the women’s 400, 800 and 1500 meters T54 and a bronze medal in the women’s 100m. While a flat tire dashed her dreams of a marathon medal, she started this year by winning the 2013 Boston and London Marathons within the same week. At the 2013 U.S. Paralympics Track and Field National Championships in June, McFadden went undefeated, winning titles in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m and 5000m events. At the 2013 International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France, she went undefeated in qualification and finals, becoming the first woman to ever win six gold medals in a single world championship. McFadden was named the USOC’s Female Athlete of the Month for Sept. 2012 and July 2013. Now entering her final semester at the University of Illinois, McFadden hopes to win her third marathon of the year in Chicago and a fourth in New York, where she will captain Team USA Endurance, a new fundraising program for the USOC. She is also aiming to make the 2014 U.S. Paralympic Team in cross-country skiing. Nominations for the Sportswoman of the Year awards – individual and team – are made by sport governing bodies and the public. Sportswoman of the Year finalists will be voted on by the Foundation’s Awards Committee as well as the general public. Votes can be cast at wspr.tc/VoteSOY2013 through 11:59 p.m. ET on Sept. 9. 2013 Finalists for Sportswoman of the Year  Individual Sport Mao Asada, figure skating Kelly Clark, snowboarding Missy Franklin, swimming Tina Maze, alpine skiing Tatyana McFadden, Paralympic track and field  Inbee Park, golf Jenn Suhr, track and field Serena Williams, tennis Team Sport Talita da Rocha Antunes and Taiana Lima, beach volleyball Katie Holloway, sitting volleyball Kaillie Humphries and Chelsea Valois, bobsled Amanda Kessel, ice hockey Candace Parker, basketball Melissa Seidemann, water polo  For more information, please contact Jamie Blanchard, U.S. Paralympics, at 719-866-2068 orjamie.blanchard@usoc.org.

U.S. Olympic Committee, Paralympic Division 1 Olympic Plaza | Colorado Springs, CO 80909 paralympicinfo@usoc.org | www.usparalympics.org