Headshot of Oksana Masters
ParalympianPara Nordic SkiingPara BiathlonPara-CyclingPara-Rowing

Oksana Masters

Paralympian, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2022

Oksana Masters on her sit ski and smiling for the camera.
Getty

athlete news

  • 7

    GOLD

  • 7

    SILVER

  • 3

    BRONZE

Event Schedule

Upcoming Event

U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing U23 Development Camp

July 25-31, 2023 / Lake Placid, NY

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Previous Event

Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra Nordic Ski Camp

March 31-April 2, 2023 / Mammoth Lakes, CA

Athlete Bio

Oksana Masters smiles and points to her nine metals around her neck
Getty Images

Height

5'8"

Birthday

Jun 19, 1989

Hometown

Louisville, KY

Education

Devry University

classification: WH5

Personal

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.

Paralympic Experience
  • Six-time Paralympian (2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2022); 17-time Paralympic medalist (7 golds, 7 silvers, 3 bronzes)
  • Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, gold (sprint biathlon, individual biathlon, mixed relay cross-country), silver (middle-distance biathlon, long-distance cross-country, sprint cross-country, middle-distance cross-country)
  • Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, gold (time trial, road race)
  • Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, gold (1.1-kilometer cross-country, 5K cross-country), silver (6K biathlon, 12.5K biathlon), bronze (12K cross-country)
  • Paralympic Games Rio 2016, 4th (cycling – road race), 5th (cycling – time trial)
  • Paralympic Winter Games Sochi 2014, silver (12km Nordic), bronze (5km Nordic)
  • Paralympic Games London 2012, bronze (rowing – trunk and arms mixed double skulls)
World Championship Experience
  • Most recent: 2023 - gold (road race), 4th (time trial)
  • Years of Participation: Cycling – 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022, 2023; Nordic – 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021
  • Medals: 24 (13 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze)
  • Gold – 2023 (road race), 2022 (time trial, road race), 2021 (long-distance cross-country, sprint cross-country), 2019 (middle-distance biathlon, middle-distance cross-country, cross-country sprint, biathlon sprint, long-distance cross-country); 2017 (cross-country sprint, middle-distance and long-distance, biathlon sprint)
  • Silver – 2021 (biathlon sprint, individual biathlon); 2019 (road race, time trial); 2019 (individual biathlon); 2015 (cross-country middle-distance)
  • Bronze – 2021 (biathlon middle-distance, individual biathlon); 2017 (individual biathlon); 2015 (road race, cross-country sprint)

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