Oksana Masters left Beijing with a huge medal haul—and her place in Paralympic history. The multi-sport athlete became the most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian ever by earning 14 Paralympic medals in the winter sports, according to NBC Sports. (She has 17 total Paralympic medals, when you count her Summer Games ones too.)
Masters—who was one of SELF’s digital cover stars in February—medaled in all seven of her events at the 2022 Winter Paralympic games: She won golds in the sprint biathlon, individual biathlon, and mixed relay cross-country, and silvers in the middle-distance biathlon, long-distance cross-country, sprint cross-country, and middle-distance cross-country.
Her success in Beijing was even more impressive considering it came just six months after the Tokyo Games, which took place shortly after a health event that severely hampered her training. Just 100 days before the Summer Games began, Masters was undergoing surgery for the removal of multiple lymph nodes and a tumor on her femur.
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“It changed my whole outlook going into Tokyo,” she told SELF. “Instead of chasing goals, I just wanted to chase that start line.”
The recent events in Ukraine also influenced her outlook going into the Winter Games, too. Masters, who was born in Ukraine and raised in the U.S., told NBC Sports that it’s been very hard to race 100%, as the Russian invasion of the country has weighed heavily on her.
“As the Winter Paralympic Games begin, I am reminded how sport has always had the power to unite the world. I will be racing for more than just my own goals, more than a spot on the podium,” she wrote on her Instagram before the Paralympics began. “While the Ukrainian people are fighting for their homes and peace, I want to make every start line and finish line mean something much bigger than a race or a result.”
Source: SELF
