Oksana Oleksandrivna Masters[a] (born June 19, 1989) is an American multi-sport Paralympic athlete from Louisville, Kentucky.
[1] 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.
[6] After she turned 7, Oksana was adopted by Gay Masters, an unmarried American professor of communication disorders with no biological children.
She was also the first adaptive sculler to compete in the Indianapolis Rowing Club "Head of the Eagle" regatta, winning the women's open singles event in the process.
[11] In 2011, Masters and teammate Augusto Perez placed second at the Adaptive World Championship trials in West Windsor, New Jersey.
[11] In preparation for the 2012 London Paralympic Games, Masters teamed with Rob Jones, a United States Marine Corps veteran who lost both legs to an IED explosion in Afghanistan.
[6][11] Masters and Jones called themselves "Team Bad Company"[15] and proceeded to win both the Adaptive World Championships Trials and the Final Paralympic Qualification Regatta by substantial margins.
[11] On September 2, at the 2012 London Paralympics, Masters and Jones finished third—winning the first-ever United States medal (bronze) in trunk and arms mixed double sculls with a final time of 4:05.56.
[2] Due to a back injury, Masters has given up competitive rowing since winning a bronze medal at the 2012 London Paralympics.
[20][21][22] Masters won the silver medal in the women's 6 km sitting biathlon event at the 2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships held in Lillehammer, Norway.
In the 2024 Paris Paralympic games, Masters again won double gold in the Women's H4-5 Individual Time Trial as well as the H5 road race.
[32] Masters' life story has been featured in a number of media sources, including Spirit, Southwest Airlines' in-flight magazine[11] and Sports Illustrated.