Women's Health August 13, 2026 0 Comments

Paralympian Oksana Masters Breaks All Limits by Embracing the Power of Being a Total Beginner—Here’s Why It’s a Game-Changer!

Ever had that sinking feeling when you realize you’re starting from scratch? For most, it’s a bit of a nightmare—but for Oksana Masters, a 24-time Paralympic medalist, hitting the reset button is pure exhilaration. Imagine facing life’s toughest hurdles—from an orphanage in Ukraine to mastering not one, but four sports across seasons—and still finding joy in being a beginner. It’s this fearless embrace of fresh starts that fuels Oksana’s extraordinary journey. Her story isn’t just about sports; it’s about resilience, reinvention, and the power of chasing new horizons with unshakable spirit. Curious how she turns setbacks into launches? Dive into a tale that’s as inspiring as it is humbling. LEARN MORE

3 min read

For most people, the prospect of starting over—of going back to zero—is a stressful one. But for 24-time Paralympic medalist Oksana Masters, being a beginner feels exhilarating. Which is a good thing, given all the new beginnings she’s faced during her life.

Born in Ukraine, Oksana was placed in an orphanage when her family couldn’t afford the medical care she needed. (The 37-year-old was born with limb abnormalities, which doctors chalked up to radiation exposure from Chernobyl.) At the age of 7, Oksana was adopted by an American woman (her mom, Gay Masters) and brought to the U.S., where she received treatment, which included having both of her legs amputated. With her prostheses, Oksana was eager to join a school sports team, but the metal legs were deemed a risk to her fellow students. It was with an adaptive rowing team that she finally found her place.

“Water is so healing and so powerful,” Oksana tells editors and hosts Abigail Cuffey and Amanda Lucci on the latest episode of The Huddle, the Women’s Health podcast where we talk sports, sweat, and everything in between. “I fell in love with rowing instantly.” For the first time, with oars in hand, Oksana felt in control. And she’d continue chasing that feeling across multiple sports, earning 24 medals in the process.

Embracing New Beginnings

After winning a gold medal in rowing at the 2012 London Games, Oksana suffered a back injury that forced her out of rowing. “When that door was kind of closing, another one was opening in the winter world of cross-country skiing,” she says. And that’s how Oksana found herself a novice in a new sport.

At ski camp, she was told by a fellow skier that there were opportunities on the women’s cycling team, so she decided to give that a go, too. “I love redefining and rediscovering what I’m capable of, and how far I can push my body,” she says. “I like being at the beginning stages of something and starting over because I think as an athlete, if you’re evolving and getting better in that one discipline and you have an injury and you’re forced to step back, it’s an opportunity to learn something new and apply it.”

An open mind and willingness to try eventually lead Oksana to medal across two seasons and four disciplines—rowing, cycling, nordic skiing, and biathlon.

Avoiding Burnout

It would be easy to assume that juggling four sports over the years has been, at times, a little overwhelming, but Oksana says the change of pace has actually allowed her to stave off fatigue.

“There’s a way to pick sports that complement each other, and it also helps for injury prevention,” Oksana says. “If you do the one sport over and over and over in training, you’re gonna get injured and burnt out.” Spreading her interest across multiple sports has also kept her mind sharp. “Transitioning from winter to summer…just like mentally resets everything,” she says.

That said, there are times when Oksana does feel tired, or even a bit over it, and in those moments, she sets time aside to contemplate her why. “I put a face mask on because I need to put something on that forces me to just lay and not move, so I can actually be present, still, and just remember the why,” she says. With little left to prove in the world of competitive sports (she does have 24 medals, after all), Oksana says her focus is now on passing the torch to the next generation. “When you have a bigger purpose than just chasing medals, it helps with burnout,” she says.

Imagining the Future

While Oksana still has her sights set on Los Angeles 2028, she has allowed herself to ponder ventures outside of athletics, and the Team Toyota athlete has a somewhat unexpected dream: to open a mobile coffee shop.

“I never like to be in one place at a time,” she says. In a perfect world, her coffee shop would be established enough that people would seek it out when it rolled in to town, and she would host adaptive sports equipment events for kids.

“I believe coffee can unite communities—that’s what a good cup of coffee does,” she says.

To hear more from Oksana on being a multi-sport athlete (and about her legendary espresso set-up in her Toyota Sienna), click play on the latest episode of The Huddle above.

Video Executive Producer Dorenna Newton

Video Producer Janie Booth

Director of Photography Derrick Saint Pierre

Video Editor Will Klein

Amy Wilkinson is a contributing entertainment editor at Women’s Health, where she edits the magazine’s celebrity cover stories and writes health features. She has previously held editor titles at Entertainment Weekly and MTV News. In 2021, Amy completed her 600-hour teacher-training at Core Pilates NYC to become a comprehensively trained Pilates instructor.