Ukrainian native Oksana Masters won America’s first gold at the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing on Saturday.
“I’m speechless. I have no idea what to think right now. I honestly don’t think it hit me. I can’t believe what just happened,” said the 32-year-old athlete, whose American mother adopted from an orphanage in Ukraine when she was 7 years old, minutes after winning the women’s 6K seated sprint biathlon.
Masters, who was born with tibial hemimelia, believed to be caused by her birth mother’s exposure to radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, now has five Paralympic gold medals.
On Saturday, Masters explained on Instagram how “it was hard to find my passion and desire to participate in these Games against the backdrop of the war that my home country of Ukraine is going through.”
“I feel selfish, helpless and guilty for being here,” she wrote. “However, I have always been so proud to be Ukrainian, felt such pride at the sight of the Ukrainian flag, and now more than ever, I am proud to be Ukrainian. My mother always said that my Ukrainian heart makes me resilient; it made me a fighter.”
“While the Ukrainian people are fighting for their homes and the world, I want every start and finish line to mean something much more than a race or a result,” Masters added. “I want to help make sure no child is left behind. I know what it is like to be a child with a disability in Ukraine where resources for medical care were scarce or non-existent, especially now in the midst of war.”