Oksana Masters Stresses The Importance Of Para Athletes Being “Seen”
...
7
GOLD
7
SILVER
3
BRONZE
5'8"
Louisville, KY
Devry University
classification: WH5
Masters was born in Ukraine, with both of her legs damaged by in-utero radiation poisoning from the Chernobyl nuclear reactor incident...She was born with six toes on each foot, five webbed fingers on each hand and no thumbs...Her left leg was six inches shorter than her right and both were missing weight-bearing bones...She was diagnosed with Tibia Hemimelia...Over the course of seven years, she would have both legs amputated...At age 13, she began rowing...In 2011, she met her rowing partner Rob Jones, and in 2012 brought home a bronze medal from the Paralympic Games London 2012, which was the first ever United States medal in trunk an arms mixed double sculls...She began skiing immediately after, training for 14 months leading up to the Paralympic Winter Games Sochi 2014...She would leave Russia with a silver and bronze medal...Due to a back injury after Sochi, she took up cycling as a recovery process and to help maintain her fitness...She qualified for the Paralympic Games Rio 2016 and finished just off the podium in fourth in the road race...Since then, Masters returned, securing four Nordic skiing world titles at the end of the 2016-2017 season...She was named U.S. Rowing’s Female Athlete of the Year for 2012...She was nominated for an ESPY in 2015 and 2016 in the Best Female Athlete with a Disability category...She received the Metro Disability Coalition Spotlight Award in 2002 and 200...Daughter of Gay Masters...She lists her mom as her personal hero...Enjoys working out, rowing, camping, shopping, road trips, swimming, being outdoors in the mounts and singing in the car...Favorite TV show is Friends...Some of her favorite foods include pickles, bacon and salmon...Has an extreme love for animals and coffee, with her favorite drink being the Americano...She hopes to open her own coffee shop one day.