Mackenzie Soldan (born May 14, 1992) is an American

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is a style of basketball played using a sports wheelchair. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as ...

and

wheelchair tennis Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis Adaptive sport, adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designe ...

player. She represented the United States at the

2011 Parapan American Games The 4th Parapan American Games took place from November 12 to 20 in Guadalajara, Mexico. The Games are an international multi-sport event for athletes with a physical disability. The Games were held 20 days after the 2011 Pan American Games bega ...

where she won two gold medals, 2012 London Paralympics in wheelchair tennis and

2016 Rio Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 Sept ...

in wheelchair basketball. She has played for the U.S. women's wheelchair basketball team since 2013.

Early life

Soldan was born in

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in Saginaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 44,202 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Saginaw River, Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township, ...

. She lost the use of her legs because of a spinal cord tumor at age 2. At age 18 she graduated from Christian Academy of Louisville. When she was in

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

, she was a top-ranked player in the Junior wheelchair tennis team. She was also the Women's division' number one player as well. In 2010, due to her passion for

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

she was signed to the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

's wheelchair basketball team, where she earned another national number one rank.

Career

In late October 2011, she got a phone call saying that she might be qualified for the

Parapan American Games The Parapan American Games is an international multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities held every four years after every Pan American Games. The first Games were held in 1999 in Mexico City, Mexico. The 2003 Parapan American Ga ...

. Soldan decided to go, and brought home 2 gold medals for singles and doubles. Besides winning those medals she also carried an American flag which was given by her coach. She represented the United States at the 2022 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships and won a bronze medal.

Personal life

Soldan currently resides in

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal Plain, Gulf Coastal and Piedmont (United States), Piedm ...

. Besides sports, she plays the

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

as a hobby. In 2007, she participated at the U.S. Under 19 Wheelchair Basketball Team and in 2011 won a gold medal in the U.S. Under 25 Team. The same year, Mackenzie was a member of Collegiate National Wheelchair Basketball Championship and represented University of Alabama there. In 2016, she graduated with a master's degree in marketing.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soldan, Mackenzie 1992 births Living people American female tennis players American wheelchair tennis players American women's wheelchair basketball players Paralympic wheelchair tennis players for the United States Wheelchair tennis players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics People with paraplegia Sportspeople from Saginaw, Michigan Basketball players from Louisville, Kentucky Tennis players from Louisville, Kentucky 21st-century American sportswomen Tennis players from Michigan Parapan American Games medalists in wheelchair basketball Parapan American Games medalists in wheelchair tennis Parapan American Games gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 2011 Parapan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Parapan American Games