Sport: Track & Field
Residence: Natick, MA

Anjali Forber-Pratt began her life halfway across the world in Calcutta (now Kolkata) India. She lived in an orphanage for two and a half months before being adopted by her loving family in Natick, Massachusetts, where she was raised. Just two months after arriving in the United States, Forber-Pratt contracted an illness resulting in the diagnosis of transverse myelitis, a neurological disorder due to inflammation of the spinal cord.  She was rushed to the hospital, not expected to live. However, her fighting spirit shone through, and she survived, although her bout with transverse myelitis left her paralyzed from the waist down.

Forber-Pratt is a member of both the U.S. Paralympic Track and Field Team and the University of Illinois Wheelchair Track Team. At the 2007 Parapan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Forber-Pratt brought home two gold medals in the 100m and 200m events, and a bronze medal in the 400m. In 2008, Forber-Pratt competed at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. At the Games, Forber-Pratt brought home two bronze medals in the 400 meter and 4x100 meter events and finished 4th in the 200m and 6th in the 100m respectively. 

When she is not competing, she is a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign working towards a doctorate in Human Resource Education. She completed her undergraduate and masters degrees at the University of Illinois. She graduated in the top three percent of her class, won a campus-wide leadership award and a departmental senior leadership award. She is passionate about helping others achieve their full potential and their dreams. When asked about what her message is to the world, "Dream big & don't quit!” To learn more about Anjali, visit her website: www.anjaliforberpratt.com

Career Highlights:

• 2010 Track & Field National Championships: Gold Medal 200m (American Record) & 400m, Silver Medal 100m and the American Recrod for their 4x400 relay team
• Paralympic Bronze Medalist in 400m and Bronze Medalist and American Record holder for the 4x100m relay, 4th place, 200m, 6th place 100m - Beijing, China
• Second place 100m, 200m, third place 400m - US Paralympic Trials, Tempe AZ
• Champion 200m, second place 100m, second place 400m - Swiss Track Meet, Muttzen, Switzerland  
• Second place 100m, 200m 400m, Swiss Track Meet - Ibach, Switzerland
• Third Place Women’s Open, Bloomsday 12K - Spokane, Washington
• Champion 100m, 200m, 400m, Dixie Games - Warm Springs, Georgia
• Champion 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m - Desert Challenge Games, Phoenix, Arizona

Anjali works closely with The Hartford, founding sponsor of U.S. Paralympics^®, helping to positively change public attitudes and perceptions about disability.