Cheri Madsen (née ''Becerra''; born September 27, 1976) is an American

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

wheelchair racing athlete. Madsen is a Native American from the

Omaha tribe The Omaha ( Omaha-Ponca: ''Umoⁿhoⁿ'') are a federally recognized Midwestern Native American tribe who reside on the Omaha Reservation in northeastern Nebraska and western Iowa, United States. There were 5,427 enrolled members as of 2012. The ...

. She grew up in Nebraska, graduating from

Nebraska City High School Nebraska City High School (NCHS, formerly NCSH) is the public secondary school in Nebraska City, Nebraska, United States. It serves 9th through 12th grades. The athletic teams of all Nebraska City Public Schools are named the Pioneers. NCHS is l ...

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 The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

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, Mario Becerra III, and father, Mario Becerra Sr., 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.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Madsen, Cheri Paralympic track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Living people 1976 births Wheelchair racers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Wheelchair racers at the 2000 Summer Olympics American female wheelchair racers Paralympic wheelchair racers People with paraplegia Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Omaha, Nebraska Track and field athletes from Nebraska Omaha Tribe of Nebraska people Native American sportspeople Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2015 Parapan American Games 21st-century American women 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native Americans