Most athletes spend a lifetime perfecting one discipline but American Oksana Masters' talent and resilience earned her a 12th Olympic medal across Winter and Summer Games at the Beijing Paralympics on Sunday.
Silver in the long-distance sitting event in cross-country skiing was a second podium in two days for the 32-year-old, who took gold in the biathlon sitting sprint amid emotional scenes at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre.
"I raced this 100% honest, clean and in the right space and I just did everything I could, and I am so happy to bring home a medal for Team USA," added Masters. What made her performance in Tokyo even more impressive was that Masters had been diagnosed with a tumour in her leg during her preparations for the Games but she underwent an operation and made a swift recovery.
Her life changed at age seven when she was adopted by an American woman, Gay Masters, and taken to the United States, where both her legs had to be amputated above the knee."I owe a lot to my mom," she said after Saturday's gold before dedicating the win to the people of Ukraine, which has been invaded by Russia.