Today we pause our usual cycling chronicles to tell the story of an extraordinary athlete, whose career spans multiple sports, and whose achievements have already secured her place among the legends of the sport: Oksana Masters. Her journey to the top, however, has been anything but ordinary.
Born in Ukraine in 1989 with several birth defects caused by radiation from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster (different leg lengths with missing weight-bearing shinbones, webbed fingers with no thumbs and six toes on each foot), Oksana was abandoned by her parents and spent her first years in a Ukrainian orphanage, where she became the victim of unspeakable abuse and cruelty. Those years were marked by hardship and suffering no child should ever have to endure. At the age of seven, however, a life-changing turning point finally arrived: she was adopted by Gay Masters, a single woman from Kentucky, and moved to the USA to start a new life. In the following years both of her legs had to be amputated above the knee.
Shortly after her second amputation, in 2002, Oksana began practicing sports. She made that choice to know more about herself and discover the true power of her body, learning to embrace her differences instead of hiding or being ashamed of them. This long journey eventually led her to her first Paralympics: London 2012, where she competed in para-rowing. In Great Britain, Oksana earned her first medal: a bronze in the mixed double sculls, paired with Afghanistan war veteran Rob Jones.
After the Games, however, another setback struck as she was forced to retire from the sport due to severe back pain. For many athletes this would have meant the end of the road, but not for Oksana. After everything she had already endured, giving up was never an option. She hung up the oars… but what followed was something few could have imagined: not one, not two, but three new sporting careers, each of them destined to rewrite the record books.
One of the three new sporting lives of Oksana came through cycling. She took it up in 2014 while recovering from her back injury, immediately earning a world bronze medal. Two years later she competed at the Rio 2016 Summer Paralympics in the H5 handbike category, finishing just outside the podium in both the RR and ITT.
Fast forward to 2021. Three months before Tokyo 2020, a tumor was discovered in her leg. After another surgery and just 100 days of recovery, she lined up for the H4–H5 ITT. Despite everything, she dominated the arm-burning course, finishing 1'46" ahead of Sun Bianbian to claim her first Summer Paralympic gold. The following day she repeated the feat in the road race, winning by more than three minutes. Three years later, at Paris 2024, she repeated this incredible double.
Alongside cycling, Masters built extraordinary careers in sitting cross-country skiing and biathlon. She debuted in the 2012–2013 season and the following year, at Sochi 2014, immediately claimed a Paralympic silver in the 12km and a bronze in the 5km. Her definitive consecration, however, came at PyeongChang 2018: five medals, including two cross-country titles and her first biathlon podiums. Four years later, at the 2022 Winter Paralympics, she became the most decorated athlete of the Games with seven medals, including three golds and the first two biathlon titles. Meanwhile, in 2020, she won the Laureus Award for Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability.
Back to the present: after another serious injury in summer 2025 and the 28th surgery of her life, Masters returned at Milano-Cortina 2026 and her streak didn’t stop: three golds in cross-country (10km, sprint, relay), plus a bronze in the 20km and another in biathlon (sprint). Her tally now stands at 24 medals (top 10 among the most decorated Paralympians of all time), including 13 titles.
And knowing Oksana Masters’ story, it would be unwise to think the journey ends here. What the future still holds for this extraordinary athlete remains to be seen!