Born near Chernobyl in Ukraine, she was adopted by an American mother and became the most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian of all time.
Brut spoke to Oksana Masters about why she's fighting for more inclusivity in sports... Oksana Masters USA
Brut spoke to Oksana Masters about why she's fighting for more inclusivity in sports... Oksana Masters USA
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SportsTranscript
00:00I want to make this video to show you how I put on my legs.
00:03We're all different. We're not the same.
00:05Not all amputees are the same.
00:07And that's okay.
00:18My vision is one day that an athlete,
00:21able-bodied and adaptive athlete,
00:22can walk into a store and get their equipment
00:25or order it and it's side by side.
00:30My vision is one day that an athlete,
00:33able-bodied and adaptive athlete,
00:35can walk into a store and get their equipment
00:38or order it and it's side by side.
01:00One of the things I wish I told myself is just
01:09not hate what makes you look so different
01:12and what's setting you apart from this world
01:14because these differences are also,
01:17have hidden superpower and just
01:20hidden talent in them.
01:30She never gave up on me.
01:37She kept fighting for me.
01:38She was told multiple times,
01:40we have a baby here, we have a baby there.
01:42You wanted a baby anyways.
01:44And she said, no, this is my daughter.
01:53I was always active as a little girl
01:55and I got into ice skating, horseback riding.
01:58It wasn't until when I was 13 that I got,
02:01I was introduced to adaptive sports.
02:04And honestly, I did not want to do adaptive sports
02:07only because I felt like I was being limited,
02:10put in a bubble based on how I looked.
02:12When I first got on the boat and took my legs off,
02:15which I was terrified to do,
02:17where I just felt like I belonged somewhere finally.
02:21It transitioned from that moment to just
02:24falling in love with adaptive sports
02:26and sports in general to somebody saying,
02:29you can go and be competitive.
02:30And I was like, what? You can do that?
02:56It broke my heart going into Beijing,
03:12where it's supposed to be this,
03:14the highest moment of my athletic career,
03:17everything you look for to just be deflated a little bit
03:22because I do have family there
03:24and I am proud of Ukraine.
03:25And that is one of my favorite things as an athlete is
03:29especially at world championships and Paralympic Games
03:33is because those are the moments I get to walk in
03:36with the American flag and the Ukrainian flag side by side.
03:47When I'm about to give them their equipment
03:50and just see their face,
03:53it's like going back in time from when I got my first equipment
03:57and I felt that game changer for me.
03:59One was Amanda and she was just, oh my gosh,
04:03she freaked out when she found out her monoski was hers
04:07and she no longer had to drive one hour
04:11just to get from Wisconsin to Chicago area
04:15to use that equipment because that is the problem
04:18a lot of adaptive athletes are doing.
04:20They have to drive two to three hours
04:22just to even do it that one day and then go home.
04:35Honestly, when people are watching the highest level
04:39at the Paralympic Games on TV
04:41of all the equipment that we're using,
04:43I think what they don't realize is
04:46you don't just go online, order your bike,
04:50order your skis, order your legs or anything like that
04:54and then it just comes and it fits you perfectly
04:56like a pair of shoe size or something.
04:58What people don't realize too is
05:00if you have a piece of equipment
05:02and you're trying to get to that level,
05:04then it breaks.
05:05You have to go through that process all over again
05:07and it's an additional like some equipment
05:09and you're just putting $5,000 to $40,000
05:13Hartford's passion and ability that it has to inspire
05:18and bring awareness to adaptive sports
05:23and adaptive equipment is just...
05:27I wish I had it when I was a little girl.
05:29I wish that existed for me.
05:30I'm so happy, but I wish I had that too.