Cheri Madsen was born in Omaha, Nebraska and her hometown is Nebraska City, Nebraska.


Madsen represented the United States as a four-time Paralympian (1996, 2000, 2016, and 2020) and ten-time Paralympic medalist (2 golds, 5 silvers, and 3 bronzes). She participated in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games earning silver (400-meter) and bronze (100-meter) places; the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games Rio 2016, earning silver (400-meter) and fifth (100-meter) places; the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games earning gold (100-meter, 400-meter), silver (200-meter), and fourth (800-meter) places; the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games earning silver (100-meter, 200-meter) and bronze (400-meter, 800-meter) places; and the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games earning bronze (800-meter exhibition race) place.


Madsen’s World Championship experience includes in 2019 bronze (100-meter) and fifth (400-meter) places. She participated in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019.
She earned seven medals including three silver and four bronze:
Silver – 2017 (100-meter, 200-meter); 2015 (200-meter)
Bronze – 2019 (100m), 2017 (400m), 2013 (200m, 400m)
Bronze – 2019 (100-meter); 2017 (400-meter); 2013 (200-meter, 400-meter)


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.