Paralympic superstar Oksana Masters wins 8th Paralympic gold, her 18th medal overall
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Paralympic torchbearer Oksana Masters claimed her first medal of the 2024 Paris Games on Wednesday, defending her gold in the women’s cycling H4-5 time trial. The 35-year-old American secured her spot at the top of the podium after a remarkable comeback during the second half of the race. At the midway point, Masters trailed by 30 seconds but surged ahead to finish with a time of 23:45.20, clinching her eighth Paralympic gold medal.
Chantal Haenen of the Netherlands took silver with a time of 23:51.44, while China’s Sun Bianbian secured the bronze, finishing at 25:13.07.
This latest victory adds to Masters’ already legendary Paralympic career, which now includes 18 medals. Today’s gold is her third in paracycling, one of three sports she has competed in since making her Paralympic debut at the London 2012 Games.
The multi-sport athlete has also won medals in pararowing and paraskiing, making her one of the most decorated Paralympians in history. She currently holds 8 gold medals, 7 silver, and 3 bronze, and she’s not done yet.
While her sporting career may seem like a fairy tale, her start in life was anything but.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Masters was born in Ukraine in 1989 with congenital disabilities caused by radiation exposure from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Her deformities included the absence of weight-bearing bones in her legs, a sixth toe on each foot, and webbed fingers without thumbs. She was also missing part of her stomach, her right biceps, and one kidney. She was put up for adoption at birth and spent a traumatic childhood in an orphanage. At age seven, she was adopted from an orphanage by an American mother and raised in Louisville, Kentucky.
By the age of 14, Masters had both legs amputated and underwent additional surgeries to modify her fingers into thumbs, improving her ability to function independently.
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Encouraged by her mother to participate in sports, Masters began adaptive rowing as a teenager—a sport she fell in love with, kickstarting her Paralympic career. She made her debut at the 2012 London Games, where she won a bronze medal, becoming the first American to medal in that category.
A back injury ended her rowing career, but she soon found a passion for the slopes, competing in para Nordic skiing at the Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018, and Beijing 2022 Games, amassing seven medals, including two golds. Masters made her Paralympic paracycling debut at the Rio 2016 Games, narrowly missing out on a medal, but in Tokyo, she made up for it by winning two gold medals in the hand-cycling time trial and road race.
After defending her title in the time trial today, Masters’ Paralympic journey continues on Thursday when she aims to defend her H5 paracycling road race title, before competing in the H1-5 mixed team relay on Saturday.
