Oksana Masters

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Oksana Masters
rowing, cycling, biathlon, cross-country skiing

Oksana Masters mixed sculls final 2012 crop.png

Oksana Masters in the TAMix2x finals of the Paralympics 2012

Personal information
Type of disability (class): LW12 , H5
Nationality: United StatesUnited States United States
Birthday: June 19, 1989
Place of birth: Khmelnitsky , Ukrainian SSR
Medals
 

Oksana Masters (born June 19, 1989 in Chmelnyzkyj , Ukrainian SSR ) is an American disabled athlete in the disciplines of cycling ( handbike ), rowing , biathlon and cross-country skiing .

Life

Oksana Masters was born with a severe form of hemimelia of the shins, as a result of which supporting bones in the lower extremities were missing and the legs showed significant differences in length. She had other congenital deformities on her hands and toes. In addition, she only has one kidney from birth. The malformations may be due to the effects of radioactive radiation in the vicinity of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster . Oksana spent the first seven years of her life in a Ukrainian orphanage. From this time she later recalled alarms about leaking radiation, inadequate nutrition and physical and sexual abuse . When she was seven, she was adopted by the Gay Masters and relocated to the United States with her adoptive single mother. She first lived in Buffalo and later moved to Louisville . At the age of 9 and 14, both of her legs were amputated above the knees.

In October 2015 she returned to Ukraine for the first time since childhood and visited various orphanages, where she shared her experiences in dealing with her disability. About her impressions, she said, "I can't put into words because I've waited so long and now being able to express my opinion and help in any way is pretty cool."

Athletic career

Oksana Masters and Rob Jones 2012 in Belgrade

Oksana Masters began rowing at the age of 13, and at 17 she began to take part in competitions. Together with her partner Rob Jones , she won the bronze medal in the trunk-and-arms mixed double scull at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, the first medal for US athletes in this discipline. With Jones she received the Isabel Bohn Award for outstanding performance in rowing. She was also voted rower of the year 2012 in the USA. The annual body issue of the ESPN sports magazine with nude photos of successful athletes also brought nude photos of Masters in the same year. In the accompanying article, she commented on her eating habits. She justified her ability to go for days without food with the malnutrition in the Ukrainian children's home. At the 2013 World Rowing Championships , she finished fourth with Jones. However, back problems subsequently forced her to give up rowing. During this time she started cross-country skiing and cycling as a recreational sport and summer variant.

In 2014 she was nominated for the Winter Paralympics in Sochi and won the silver medal in cross-country skiing over 12 kilometers and bronze over 5 kilometers. In the biathlon she came in 4th place over 6 kilometers and 8th place over 10 kilometers. At the Nordic World Ski Championships for the disabled in the following season, she won cross-country silver over 5 kilometers and bronze in the one-kilometer sprint.

In cycling, she took part in the world championships in road racing and in the individual time trial in the H5 category in 2014 and 2015 and took fourth place three times. In 2015 she won the bronze medal in the road race. She competed in the same disciplines at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro and finished 4th and 5th on the road and in the time trial.

Oksana Masters celebrated her greatest success to date at the Nordic World Ski Championships for the disabled in Finsterau in February 2017 . She was world champion in cross-country skiing over 12 and 5 kilometers and in sprinting over one kilometer. In biathlon she won her fourth title over 6 kilometers. She also finished third over 12.5 kilometers and fourth over 10 kilometers.

At the Winter Paralympics 2018 in Pyeongchang on March 10, 2018, she won the silver medal in the biathlon over 6 kilometers behind Kendall Gretsch , who thus achieved the first victory for the USA at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in this sport. US athlete Daniel Cnossen won the men’s 7.5 km race on the same day and completed the US team’s surprise appearance. One day later, Gretsch also won cross-country skiing over 12 kilometers. During the Games in South Korea Masters won the gold medal in cross-country skiing over 5 kilometers and in sprint over 1.1 kilometers and bronze over 12 kilometers. She also won a second silver medal in the 12.5 kilometer biathlon. This made her the most successful athlete on the US team at the 2018 Paralympics and was selected as the flag bearer of her team at the closing ceremony in Pyeongchang.

At the Nordic Para-Ski World Championships in Prince George, Canada in February 2019, she showed herself together with Kendall Gretsch as the dominant athlete and won two world championship titles in cross-country and biathlon as well as the silver medal in biathlon over 12.5 kilometers.

Media reports

Masters' life story was published in a number of media sources in 2012, including Sports Illustrated . The Guardian named her one of ten US athletes to watch. She was also reported in Germany.

Web links

Commons : Oksana Masters  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Oksana Masters. teamusa.org, accessed March 20, 2018 .
  2. ↑ https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/game-time/results/PWG2018/en/cross-country-skiing/athlete-profile-n3058472-oksana-masters.htm (English)
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Oksana Masters. paralympic.org, accessed March 20, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b c Paralympian Oksana Masters pursues cycling spot in Rio. USA Today , May 17, 2016, accessed March 21, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Paralympian rower bares all for ESPN's Body Issue and Reveals 'for me, eating is one of the hardest things'. Daily Mail , July 12, 2012, accessed April 3, 2018 .
  6. ↑ (TAMix2x) TA Mixed Double Sculls - Final. worldrowing.com, accessed March 21, 2018 .
  7. ↑ PyeongChang 2018: Double delight for USA in day of biathlon surprises. paralympic.org, March 10, 2018, accessed March 22, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Louisville's Oksana Masters wins 5 medals, will carry US flag at Paralympic closing ceremony. courier-journal.com, March 17, 2018, accessed on March 20, 2018 .
  9. ^ Prince George 2019. World Para Nordic Skiing Championships. paralympic.org, accessed February 23, 2019 .
  10. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2012/aug/24/paralympics-2012-us-athletes-to-watch-london
  11. ↑ https://www.derwesten.de/panorama/oksana-masters-nicht-zu-bremsen-id9130910.html Oksana Masters - not to be stopped The West from April 18, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Masters, Oksana
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American disabled athlete
DATE OF BIRTH June 19, 1989
PLACE OF BIRTH Khmelnitsky , Ukrainian SSR