Top 57 Quotes & Sayings by Oksana Masters

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American athlete Oksana Masters.
Last updated on September 17, 2024.
Oksana Masters

Oksana Masters is an American multi-sport Paralympic athlete of Ukrainian descent from Louisville, Kentucky. Having primarily specialized in rowing and cross-country skiing, she won the first ever United States medal in trunk and arms mixed double sculls at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. She was also a part of the U.S. Nordic skiing team at the 2014 Winter Paralympics and the 2018 Winter Paralympics. She won two Paralympic medals in 2014 and five Paralympic medals in 2018, including two gold. She switched to para-cycling after the 2012 Paralympics and competed at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics, winning two gold medals at the latter. She competed at the 2022 Winter Paralympics, winning a gold medal in Biathlon – Women's 6 kilometres, sitting.

I remember seeing the Olympics when I was 13. I always wanted to know how it felt to stand on top of the podium hearing your country's anthem while watching your flag being raised in something you poured your heart and soul into.
I like to keep my hair and makeup routines easy and simple on race days.
I was supposed to be adopted when I was five, but then my adoption was pushed back by two years. — © Oksana Masters
I was supposed to be adopted when I was five, but then my adoption was pushed back by two years.
I'm chasing that gold medal.
I didn't find out about the Paralympics until I was 18 years old. Once I found out what the Paralympics were, I was so excited to know I had a chance to represent my country and wear Team U.S.A. on my back.
Time trialing is one of those things that you've got to train for... Being a new rider, it's still really hard for me to know what's the most efficient gear for me to be in. The road race is probably more exciting, in my opinion, because it's a lot faster pace, and people are constantly attacking.
It's hard to understand the athlete's lifestyle. You literally eat, sleep, train. You go to training camps in the winter where there is no Internet, you can't make phone calls.
My mom literally saved my life. I wasn't supposed to make it out of the orphanage.
It was honestly like 'Annie.' One day I was alone in a cold, dark Eastern European orphanage, and then the next day I was in an enchanted, mystical land known as Walmart.
I was a troublemaker.
When you're using your upper body to live, you get to know how to move every muscle.
I'm stubborn; once I start something, I want to see how far I can go.
When I ski, I take both of my legs off and get into a sit ski: a ski with a custom seat that has been molded for me. I use my core and arms to propel myself on snow with help from ski poles.
I don't know why, but I love sunflowers, and I just have this vivid memory of being in a field of sunflowers and how they felt like trees. They felt so tall. — © Oksana Masters
I don't know why, but I love sunflowers, and I just have this vivid memory of being in a field of sunflowers and how they felt like trees. They felt so tall.
Sport has definitely been an outlet for me.
I use Olay Total Effects Tone Correcting CC Cream in place of foundation post-workout. I absolutely love that it's quick, easy, and something I can use on the go. It evens out my skin tone, provides SPF 15 protection, and leaves my skin feeling breathable, healthy, and moisturized.
That's what I'm focused on, having that perfect race.
I never thought I'd be able to go back to Ukraine.
You don't get any second chances.
Just keep moving forward.
I am very lucky to be living my dream.
I never in a million years thought I would be able to be a Paralympic athlete.
I'm a person that, once I start something, I can't just quit it.
I am so proud to be Ukrainian, and I'm also so proud to be an American.
My hair is super fine, so I love using Batiste Dry Shampoo to give it volume after I shower and dry my hair. It also gives me extra body and texture for when I choose to wear my hair in a French braid.
They said if I stayed in the orphanage for another month or so, I basically would not have been able to be alive.
I could use a little more body, but I'm happy with it.
It doesn't matter what kind of body you have, it's the determination and the spirit that's going to get you there. I want to prove that.
Cycling's primarily a pushing motion, and skiing is more pulling, so it kind of balances out the body.
I was a super active kid, so I've always been aware of where my body is in space, and I think when I had my legs amputated, it makes you more aware of your body, and because I don't use my legs, I use more of my hands.
I absolutely fell in love with being on the water and the peace and freedom that you get being on the water in a single boat.
The realization that I'm never going to run again, the feeling through my hair when you run... you're still a kid. You still have so much life to live.
The biggest challenge during competition is keeping my real legs warm with clothing, because I have poor circulation in the tissue around the amputated areas.
I was born with legs, but they were so deformed.
Sports were a way for me to get comfortable with my body. I learned to appreciate everything I could still do.
I was missing the main weight-bearing bone in both legs. And the left leg, I didn't have a full knee. It was a floating knee. I had six toes. My hands were webbed, and I also have one kidney. I don't have a full bicep on my right side. Thank God my hair didn't get ruined.
When I first had my legs amputated, it was hard for me to be positive and feel pretty. Many people don't know that someone with a disability can be strong and beautiful and successful as an athlete.
I am so happy I have been able to channel all the things that I went through when I was younger and make them into something positive. — © Oksana Masters
I am so happy I have been able to channel all the things that I went through when I was younger and make them into something positive.
I think it is very unfortunate that there is a ban on adoptions in Russia.
I definitely went through a period where I don't want to say I hated myself, but I hated what I saw in the mirror. I would try to cover it up, and it wasn't until I started doing sports - until after London 2012 - that I kind of started getting more of that confidence in my body and appreciating my body.
In 2013, I had the chance to try cross-country skiing on snow and just fell in love with being in nature and how hard it was to pick up the sport. And the snow is sparkly.
I usually like to keep my hair and makeup routines pretty simple after I work out but always need a little bit of mascara to finish off the look. I just swipe some on and then am good to go for the rest of the day.
I started doing sports when I was 13 and competitively doing sports - where I was actually training - when I was 17.
It's insane going from skiing to cycling. Even though you are in prime shape, you feel like you have never worked out a day in your life.
I wear my prosthetics legs every day, and when I train in the gym, I call them my Lamborghini, because both legs and sockets, which extend up to my hips to keep the legs on via a suction seal, cost about $305,815.
Growing up in a very poor orphanage in Ukraine, there wasn't much food.
I can go days without eating if I don't think about food. Your mind, to protect itself, learns not to pay attention to that hunger feeling.
In 2012, I was invited to a ski event called the Hartford Ski Spectacular to learn how to sit-ski for the first time. I loved it, but it was not pretty - I was not good. I didn't know how to stop, so I kept throwing myself on the ground.
It's extremely important for my sit ski to be perfectly fit to me. If it's too big, and I shift around, the energy and strength I put into propelling myself forward will be lost. The right fit is everything in my sport.
I'm a coffee lover. — © Oksana Masters
I'm a coffee lover.
I definitely did not like my body when I first started sports. I didn't like my body just in general as a teenager. Being a girl and a teenager with two prosthetic legs and two hands that were misshapen that had so much reconstructive surgery on them, I thought my world was over - put a zit on top of that, and then my life is completely over.
I'm just stupid and too headstrong.
It's weird to not know what a family is. Not know what a mother's love is. And not really know what a hug is or anything.
With cycling, I can still be active and compete, and ultimately, that's what I love to do, to be competitive.
I've gotten a lot of people saying. 'That is awesome. You're so brave.' I hate when people say brave. I'm not brave. I'm just living my life. Why is that brave?
Every single race that I get on the podium in biathlon, I'm shocked.
The mind is really powerful.
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