Anjali Forber-Pratt

Who is Anjali Forber-Pratt?

Anjali Forber-Pratt is an American wheelchair racer who competes in sprint events at the Paralympic level.

Raised in Natick, Massachusetts, Forber-Pratt was diagnosed with transverse myelitis at four and a half months of age. The disorder left her paralyzed from the waist down. She began racing at the national level in 1993 with an appearance at the Junior National Wheelchair Games. She competed at the games three more times, in 1996, 1998, and 2003, and won a total of four gold, six silver, and two bronze medals. She is currently the World and American Record holder in the 200m. As a student at Natick High School she also competed in downhill skiing before graduating in 2002.

Forber-Pratt is a three-time graduate from the University of Illinois and is an alumni member of the school's wheelchair track and field team. She has received a bachelor's and master's degree in Speech Language Pathology from Illinois and earned her doctorate of philosophy in human resource education in May 2012.

Her first major international competition was the 2007 Parapan American Games in Rio de Janerio, where she won two gold medals in the 100 and 200 meter races and a bronze in the 400 meters. At the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, she won a bronze medal in the 400 meter T53 event with a personal best time of 56.79 seconds and another bronze in the 4×100 meter relay T53–T54. She also competed in the 100 and 200 meters in Beijing, finishing sixth and fourth, respectively.