Cheri Madsen

Personal

Daughter of Mario and Mary Becerra...Mother to Reese and Malayna Madsen...Married Eric Madsen on June 2, 2001...Was left paralyzed by an unknown virus at age three...Began wheelchair racing in 1994 and qualified for her first Paralympic Games just two years later in Atlanta...First Native American female to win an Olympic exhibition bronze medal...Her 1996 Olympic and Paralympic pursuits were chronicled in a Nebraska Educational Television documentary entitled “The Cheri Becerra Story: God Made Her for This Sport”...Left racing for 13 years, returning to competition for the 2013 world championships in memory of her younger brother, Mario III, and their father, Mario Jr., who were killed in a car-train crash in 2007...Hobbies include scrapbooking, reading and watching her daughters compete in sports.

Paralympic Experience

• 4-time Paralympian; 10-time Paralympic medalist (2 gold, 5 silver, 3 bronze)
• Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, silver (400m T54 - Women), bronze (100m T54 - Women)
• Paralympic Games Rio de Janeiro 2016, (4 x 400m Relay T53-54 - Women), silver (400m T54 - Women), 5th (100m T54 - Women)
• Paralympic Games Sydney 2000, gold (100m T54 - Women, 400m T54 - Women), silver (200m T54 - Women), 4th (800m T54 - Women)
• Paralympic Games Atlanta 1996, silver (100m T53 - Women, 200m T53 - Women), bronze (400m T53 - Women, 800m T53 - Women)

World Championship Experience

• Most recent: 2019 – bronze (100m T54 - Women), 5th (400m T54 - Women)
• Years of participation: 100m T54 - Women 2015, 2017, 2019; 400m T54 - Women 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019; 200m T54 - Women 2013, 2015, 2017; 800m T54 - Women 2013, 2015
• Medals: 7 (3 silver, 4 bronze)
• Silver – 2017 (100m T54 - Women, 200m T54 - Women); 2015 (200m T54 - Women)
• Bronze – 2019 (100m T54 - Women); 2017 (400m T54 - Women); 2013 (200m T54 - Women, 400m T54 - Women)