Brady Tanner of the Wakarusa Valley Ward, Topeka Kansas Stake, has made a name for himself in the world of sports, as well as in his ward.
On June 7, Tanner, who is one-quarter Cherokee, was inducted into the North American Indigenous Athletic Hall of Fame, headquartered in Red Lake, Minnesota.
This organization recognizes Indigenous athletes for their leadership and achievement in individual and team sports.
Tanner was recognized for his accomplishments in powerlifting, a sport that involves lifting heavy weights in the squat, bench press and deadlift events.
It wasn’t his first hall of fame induction. He was the first Special Olympian to be inducted into the World Association of Benchers and Deadlifters Hall of Fame and into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame.
During nearly 40 years of participating in Special Olympics, Tanner, now 45, has competed in bowling, basketball, volleyball, softball, soccer, track, tennis, swimming and even cheerleading. But the sport he particularly distinguished himself in was powerlifting, which he started training for in 2001.
With his father, Gary Tanner, as his coach, over the next 19 years, Brady Tanner consistently won gold in the sport at Special Olympic competitions on the national and international levels.
For example, in the Special Olympics World Games in Athens, Greece, in July 2011, he came home with three gold medals and a silver medal, winning gold in the bench press (335 pounds), gold in the deadlift (525), silver in the squat (500) and gold in the overall combination lift (1,360).
After having his first hip replacement in 2020, Tanner needed to choose a different sport. After recovering, he took up snowshoeing. His father, who was one of the coaches for the Kansas Special Olympics winter sports team, taught him to run in snowshoes.
Brady Tanner’s determination, hard work and desire to excel paid off again in his new sport. In March 2025, he was one of 1,500 athletes from 103 countries at the Winter Special Olympics World Games in Turin, Italy.
Cheered on by his parents, Gary and Janie Tanner, and two sisters, Jennifer Morris and Jamie Davis, he won two fourth-place medals, in the 50- and 25-yard snowshoeing races and set his own personal records in those events. It was his first time to compete in the sport on the international level.
In honor of Brady Tanner’s accomplishments in Italy, his hometown newspaper, The Lawrence Journal-World, ran a front-page story about him on March 29.
Though Tanner loves sports and competing, he also loves Jesus Christ and serving.
Diagnosed with Rubenstein-Taybi syndrome, which delays mental growth and impairs speech development, Tanner didn’t talk until he was 6 — and then only family members could understand him.
Even though he couldn’t verbally communicate with members of his ward, he had one-on-one teachers at church who sensed he was understanding what they were teaching.
His mother, Janie Tanner, said, “Every one of his teachers told me that the Spirit was in the room while they were working with Brady.”
Brady Tanner has served five years as an assistant Nursery teacher in his ward, a calling his mother says he loves. “Although Brady doesn’t speak much, the children love having him in the room with them.”
As a teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood, he also prepares and passes the sacrament each week and insists that his family arrive early enough at church so he can do so.
At home, Tanner loves to read Book of Mormon stories with his mother and watch animated church videos, which he calls “the Jesus movies.”
— Carol Christensen is the Topeka Kansas Stake communication director
