Oksana Masters was born on June 19, 1989, in Khmelnytskyi, in what was then the Ukrainian SSR. She was born with birth defects affecting her hands and legs, suspected to be linked to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, as her birth mother had been exposed to radioactive fallout. At around age 7, she was adopted from a Ukrainian orphanage by American speech therapy professor Gay Masters and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. Her left leg was amputated at the knee when she was 9, and her right leg was amputated at the same spot five years later, making her a double leg amputee.
Masters made her Paralympic debut at the 2012 London Games, where she won a bronze medal in rowing — the starting point of a career that has since spanned Para Nordic skiing, Para-cycling, Para-rowing, and Para biathlon. As of the Milan Cortina 2026 Paralympics, she is recognized as the most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian in history, a record built across multiple seasons and disciplines on snow and ice.
In February 2023, Masters published a memoir, ‘The Hard Parts: A Story of Courage and Triumph,’ tracing her path from an orphanage in Ukraine through amputation, adoption, and the long climb to the top of Paralympic sport. She shares updates on her training, competitions, and life through her official Instagram account, @oksanamasters.
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