I never in a million years thought I would be able to be a Paralympic athlete.

Oksana Masters

Categorized in : Thought Never Years Athlete

I absolutely fell in love with being on the water and the peace and freedom that you get being on the water in a single boat.

freedom love water peace

I was missing the main weight-bearing bone in both legs. And the left leg, I didn't have a full knee. It was a floating knee. I had six toes. My hands were webbed, and I also have one kidney. I don't have a full bicep on my right side. Thank God my hair didn't get ruined.

thank-god god hair hands

Just keep moving forward.

keep-moving moving-forward moving

I'm stubborn; once I start something, I want to see how far I can go.

start go see i-can

It's extremely important for my sit ski to be perfectly fit to me. If it's too big, and I shift around, the energy and strength I put into propelling myself forward will be lost. The right fit is everything in my sport.

myself me strength energy

I'm a coffee lover.

My mom literally saved my life. I wasn't supposed to make it out of the orphanage.

make my-life mom life

When I ski, I take both of my legs off and get into a sit ski: a ski with a custom seat that has been molded for me. I use my core and arms to propel myself on snow with help from ski poles.

help myself me snow

The biggest challenge during competition is keeping my real legs warm with clothing, because I have poor circulation in the tissue around the amputated areas.

challenge competition poor real

I wear my prosthetics legs every day, and when I train in the gym, I call them my Lamborghini, because both legs and sockets, which extend up to my hips to keep the legs on via a suction seal, cost about $305,815.

wear every-day day gym

With cycling, I can still be active and compete, and ultimately, that's what I love to do, to be competitive.

compete cycling i-can love

Time trialing is one of those things that you've got to train for... Being a new rider, it's still really hard for me to know what's the most efficient gear for me to be in. The road race is probably more exciting, in my opinion, because it's a lot faster pace, and people are constantly attacking.

me you time people

I started doing sports when I was 13 and competitively doing sports - where I was actually training - when I was 17.

doing where training sports

I never thought I'd be able to go back to Ukraine.

never thought back go

I am so happy I have been able to channel all the things that I went through when I was younger and make them into something positive.

i-am things happy positive

I like to keep my hair and makeup routines easy and simple on race days.

makeup simple easy hair

I'm chasing that gold medal.

gold-medal medal chasing gold

Every single race that I get on the podium in biathlon, I'm shocked.

every get single race

I think it is very unfortunate that there is a ban on adoptions in Russia.

i-think very think russia

I was supposed to be adopted when I was five, but then my adoption was pushed back by two years.

then back two years