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Anjali Forber-Pratt

Sport: Track & Field
Residence: Savoy, IL

Anjali Forber-Pratt began her life halfway across the world in Calcutta, India. She lived in an orphanage for two and a half months before being adopted by her family in Natick, Massachusetts. Just two months after arriving in the U.S., Forber-Pratt contracted an illness, resulting in transverse myelitis, a neurological disorder due to inflammation of the spinal cord. She was rushed to the hospital, not expected to live, but those doctors hadn’t taken her heart and mind into account. Her fighting spirit shined through, and she survived. The result of this disease left her paralyzed from the waist down, but it certainly never stopped her. This fighting spirit has been with Forber-Pratt ever since, both on and off the track as she advocates for equal access to education and has become a world-class sprinter.

Forber-Pratt is a member of both the U.S. Paralympic Track and Field Team and the University of Illinois Wheelchair Track Team. When she is not competing, Forber-Pratt is a doctoral student in Education Policy, Organization & Leadership at the University of Illinois. She completed her undergraduate and master's degrees the University of Illinois, graduating in the top three percent of her class. Forber-Pratt co-authored an educational kids’ coloring book about disabled sports titled, “Color Learn & Play: All About Sports for Athletes with Physical Disabilities”. Forber-Pratt’s motto is "Dream, Drive, Do!” Forber-Pratt is committed to help transform perceptions of what it means to be an individual with a disability, help others accept their own differences and motivate others to take action in their own lives and communities.

Career Highlights

  • 2012: Member of the Paralympic Team, London, England.
  • 2011: World Record 200m, Gold Medal, 200m, Silver Medals, 100 & 400m- IPC Athletics World Championships Christchurch, NZ
  • 2010: First P lace, 200m T53, 400m T53, Second Place, 100m T53; Fourth Place, 800m T53 – U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships, Miramar, FL
  • 2008: Bronze Medal, 400m T53; Bronze Medal, Women’s 4 x 100m relay T53/54 – Paralympic Games, Beijing, China
  • 2008: Second Place, 100m and 200m, Third Place, 400m – Meet in the Heat, Atlanta, GA.
  • 2007: Gold Medal, 100m and 200m, Bronze Medal, 400m – Parapan American Games, Rio de Janerio, Brazil
     

Anjali works closely with The Hartford, Founding Partner of U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic Committee, helping to positively change public attitudes and perceptions about disability. To learn more about Anjali, visit her website: www.anjaliforberpratt.com.