The Story Of The Impossible: Ukrainian girl without legs, became a star of the sport in USA (photos)

Oksana Masters became one of the biggest stories out of the London 2012 Paralympic Games as she and her teammate Rob Jones won a bronze medal in rowing in the trunk and arms mixed double sculls. Masters was named U.S. Rowing’s Female Athlete of the Year for 2012.

In late 2012, Masters met one of the coaches of the U.S. Paralympics Nordic ski team and was invited to a camp in Colorado. While Masters had originally been interested in downhill, not cross-country skiing, her endurance from rowing quickly translated to the snow. In her first year of skiing, Masters turned heads by earning a bronze medal in the 5km at the IPC World Cup in Canmore, Alberta. Just over a month later, she claimed bronze again at the IPC World Cup Final in Oberstdorf, Germany, in the women’s sitting 12km cross-country race.

She also rowed in the Head of the Ohio in the 2x adaptive division and finished second against slide seat rowers. In 2009 she set a world record at the CRASH B Sprints World Indoor Rowing Championship with a time of 4:27. With her current rowing partner Rob Jones, they rowed the Head of the Anacostia achieving a first place win. 

Masters was born in Ukraine, with both of her legs damaged by in-utero radiation poisoning from the Chernobyl nuclear reactor incident. Masters was adopted when she was seven years old and began rowing at 13.

Oksana Masters was adopted at the age of 7 years old, from an orphanage in the Ukraine. She is a bilateral above knee amputee as a result of birth deformities from radiation poisoning inuterio. Oksana holds many first place medals over the years in adaptive rowing, including ten gold medals from the Bayada Regatta. She competed twice at the Head of the Hooch with a first place finishes as well. Notably, Oksana was the first adaptive rower in the Indiana Head of the Eagle where she competed in the open women single race and won.

Oksana is an amazing young woman who has lived through and achieved more than many can even imagine. Through rowing, Oksana finds peace and healing on the water as well as strives for her dream of competing in the Paralympics.

In her spare time, she enjoys working out, rowing, swimming and singing in the car…Masters lists here most memorable sporting achievement, besides competing on the U.S. National Team, as rowing the Head of the Eagle as the only adaptive rower in the head race in the woman’s open single sculls event as Trunk and Arms competing with able-bodied rowers and not being the last to finish…She chose rowing because people wouldn’t stop telling her to give it a try, but then when she tried it, she knew it was where she belonged…

The most influential person in her sporting career is her rowing coach, Bob Hurley, “who believed in me and my dream so much as to purchasing a double scull to train in and also for dedicating so much of his unpaid time and expertise on helping me be a well rounded athlete, rower and person all together”…

Masters lists her personal hero as her mom…Someday Masters hopes to stand on the Paralympic podium with a gold medal and to row on as many different bodies of water all over the world as she can. After that, she wants to give back to the adaptive rowing community to new rowers with big dreams and pursue the medical field.