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]
Height	155 cm (5 ft 1 in)[2]
Weight	52 kg (115 lb)
Sport
Sport	Paralympic athletics
Disability class	T54
Event(s)	100–800 m
Medal record Representing the  United States Paralympic Games 2000 Sydney 100 m T54 2000 Sydney 400 m T54 1996 Atlanta 100 m T53 1996 Atlanta 200 m T53 2000 Sydney 200 m T54 2016 Rio 400 m T54 2020 Tokyo 400 m T54 1996 Atlanta 400 m T53 1996 Atlanta 800 m T53 2020 Tokyo 100 m T54 IPC Athletics World Championships 2017 London 200m - T54 2013 Lyon 200 m T54 2013 Lyon 400 m T54 Parapan American Games 2015 Toronto 400 m T54 2015 Toronto 800 m T54

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. She qualified for the 2013 IPC World Championships, 2015 Parapan American Games and 2016 Rio Paralympics, medaling on all occasions.[1][2][4][5]