Oksana Masters (born June 19, 1989) is an American multi-sport

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

athlete of Ukrainian descent from

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. Having primarily specialized in

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

and

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

, she won the first ever United States medal in trunk and arms mixed double sculls at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

in London. She was also a part of the U.S. Nordic skiing team at the

2014 Winter Paralympics The 2014 Winter Paralympics (russian: Зимние Паралимпийские игры 2014, Zimniye Paralimpiyskiye igry 2014), the 11th Paralympic Winter Games, and also more generally known as the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, were an ...

and the

2018 Winter Paralympics ) , nations = 49 , athletes = 569 , events = 80 in 6 sports , opening = 9 March , closing = 18 March , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Eun-jung Seo Soon-seok , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic ...

. She won two Paralympic medals in 2014 and five Paralympic medals in 2018, including two gold. She switched to

para-cycling Para-cycling (or Paracycling) is the sport of cycling (sport), cycling adapted for cyclists who have various disability, disabilities. It is governed by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The sport consists of seven different events which in ...

after the 2012 Paralympics and competed at the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

, winning two gold medals at the latter. She competed at the

2022 Winter Paralympics The 2022 Winter Paralympics (), commonly known as Beijing 2022 (), was an international winter multi-sport parasports event held in Beijing, China from 4 to 13 March 2022. This was the 13th Winter Paralympic Games, as administered by the Inte ...

, winning a gold medal in Biathlon – Women's 6 kilometres, sitting.

Early life

Oksana was born in 1989, three years after the

Chernobyl nuclear disaster The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR in the Sov ...

, with several

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...

-induced

birth defect A birth defect, also known as a congenital disorder, is an abnormal condition that is present at birth regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disabilities that may be physical, intellectual, or developmental. The disabilities can ...

s, including

tibial hemimelia Tibial may refer to: * Tibia bone * Tibial nerve * Anterior tibial artery * Posterior tibial artery * Anterior tibial vein * Posterior tibial vein The posterior tibial veins are veins of the leg in humans. They drain the posterior compartment of ...

(resulting in different leg lengths), missing weight-bearing

shinbone The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

s in her calves, webbed fingers with no thumbs, and six toes on each foot. She was abandoned by her birth parents at a Ukrainian orphanage where she lived until age 7. After she turned 7, Oksana was adopted by Gay Masters, an unmarried American speech therapy professor with no biological children. After moving to the United States in 1997, both of Oksana's legs were eventually amputated above the knee—her left leg at age nine and her right leg at age 14—as they became increasingly painful and unable to support her weight. Oksana also had surgery to modify her innermost fingers on each hand so they could function as thumbs. When she arrived in the U.S., her mother was a professor at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

; she moved to

in 2001 when her mother took a faculty position at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

, and graduated from the city's Atherton High School in 2008.

Rowing career

Oksana Masters Rob Jones Belgrade World Rowing Cup 2012

Masters began

adaptive rowing Pararowing (or adaptive rowing) is a category of rowing race for those with physical, visual or intellectual disabilities. History In 1913, rowing for individuals with disabilities was initiated by headmaster George Clifford Brown at Worcester C ...

in 2002 at age 13, shortly before her right leg was amputated. She continued afterward and began adaptive rowing competitively. In 2010, she competed at the

CRASH-B Sprints The CRASH-B Sprints World Indoor Rowing Championships (CRASH-B Sprints) was the world championship for indoor rowing, raced over a distance of 2,000m. The regatta is sponsored by Concept2, and raced on their C2 rowers. Originally held in Harvard' ...

, setting a world record in the process. She was also the first adaptive

sculler Sculling is the use of oars to propel a boat by moving them through the water on both sides of the craft, or moving one oar over the stern. A long, narrow boat with sliding seats, rigged with two oars per rower may be referred to as a scull, i ...

to compete in the Indianapolis Rowing Club "Head of the Eagle" regatta, winning the women's open singles event in the process. In 2011, Masters and teammate Augusto Perez placed second at the Adaptive World Championship trials in West Windsor, New Jersey. In preparation for the 2012 London Paralympic Games, Masters teamed with Rob Jones, a

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

veteran who lost both legs to an IED explosion in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Masters and Jones called themselves "Team Bad Company" and proceeded to win both the Adaptive World Championships Trials and the Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta by substantial margins. On September 2, at the 2012 London Paralympics, Masters and Jones finished third—winning the first-ever United States medal (bronze) in trunk and arms mixed double sculls with a final time of 4:05.56. They finished behind China (gold) and France (silver) while just edging out Great Britain. Due to a back injury, Masters has given up competitive rowing since winning a bronze medal at the 2012 London Paralympics. She has since taken up

and cross country skiing.
Paralympian Oksana Masters pursues cycling spot – USA Today Sports Retrieved May 17, 2016.

Cross-country skiing career

Following her medal win in rowing at the 2012 Paralympics, Masters took up cross-country skiing. At the

in Sochi, Russia, she won a silver medal in the 12 km Nordic and a bronze medal in the 5 km Nordic. She also placed fourth and eighth in two biathlon events. Masters sustained a back injury during this time and gave up rowing as a result. She took up cycling as part of the recovery process. Masters won her first Paralympic gold medal at the

in the Cross-country skiing at the 2018 Winter Paralympics – Women's 1.5 km sprint classical, cross-country skiing women's 1.5 km sprint classical event after experiencing multiple setbacks. She had injured her elbow three weeks prior to the Games and had also withdrawn from a biathlon event the day before after falling during the race. She won five medals total from those Games, three in cross-country and two in biathlon. She won the gold medal in the cross-country skiing's 5 km sitting event and the bronze medal in the cross-country skiing's 12 km sitting event. She won silver medals in the 6 km sitting biathlon event and the 12.5 km sitting biathlon event. Masters won the silver medal in the women's 6km sitting biathlon event at the 2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships held in Lillehammer, Norway. She also won the bronze medal in the women's 10km sitting biathlon event. In cross-country skiing, she won the gold medal in the women's long-distance sitting event. Masters won her first Paralympic gold medal in biathlon at the

in the 6 km sitting biathlon event. Masters has twice been nominated for an

ESPY An ESPY Award (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC, and previously ESPN (as of the 2017 ESPY Awards the latter still airs them in the form ...

for her

Nordic skiing Nordic skiing encompasses the various types of skiing in which the toe of the ski boot is fixed to the Ski binding, binding in a manner that allows the heel to rise off the ski, unlike alpine skiing, where the boot is attached to the ski from toe ...

in the category of Best Female Athlete with a Disability.

Cycling career

Masters has won two bronze World Cup medals and a bronze medal at the UCI Para-Cycling Worlds. She competed in hand-cycling events in the

2016 Paralympic Games ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

in Rio, where she placed 4th in the road race event and 5th in the timed trial. At the

2020 Paralympic Games The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralymp ...

in Tokyo she finished first in the time trial and the road race, her first Paralympic gold medals at the Summer Games.

Media appearances

Masters' life story has been featured in a number of media sources, including ''Spirit'',

Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the U ...

' in-flight magazine and ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

''. She was also named one of the "11 Hottest Paralympic Athletes" by ''msn NOW'', was named one of ten U.S. athletes to watch by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', and posed nude for '' ESPN The Magazine's'' annual "

Body Issue ''The Body Issue'' is an edition of ''ESPN The Magazine'' that features dozens of athletes in nude and semi-nude photographs, which is intended to rival the annual Swimsuit Issue from ''Sports Illustrated''. The first issue debuted on October 19, ...

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

featured her in a "Making a difference. One app at a time." video, where she explains how her life changed with

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

apps.iOS – Making a difference. One app at a time.
Retrieved July 7, 2013.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Masters, Oksana 1989 births Living people American female rowers Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Rowers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine Paralympic rowers of the United States Sportspeople from Louisville, Kentucky American adoptees American amputees American disabled sportspeople Ukrainian emigrants to the United States Atherton High School alumni Cross-country skiers at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Cross-country skiers at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Cross-country skiers at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Biathletes at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Biathletes at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Biathletes at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic cyclists of the United States Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics American female cyclists American female biathletes Paralympic biathletes of the United States Paralympic cross-country skiers of the United States Laureus World Sports Awards winners Paralympic medalists in cross-country skiing Paralympic medalists in biathlon Paralympic medalists in cycling Paralympic medalists in rowing DeVry University alumni 21st-century American women Cyclists from Kentucky 20th-century American women