Cheri

Madsen

Quick Facts

• 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)