American Paralympic athlete Oksana Masters reflects on her 22 medals:

Teachers Oksana, the Most decorated US Winter Paralympic athlete of all time, told News themezone that “my cheeks hurt from smiling so much” after winning three gold medals in Milan.

“I feel like I’m on top of the world,” Masters said. “I’m shocked.”

Teachers took home his twentieth medal after placing first in the women’s seated sprint discipline at the Para Biathlon on March 7. He also earned two more medals, his 21st and 22nd, in Para cross-country skiing events. He won both races, bringing his career gold medal total to 12. Masters has one race left at the 2026 Winter Games.

Masters’ season was marred by surgery, a bone infection and a concussion, but she told News themezone that her childhood as an orphan in Ukraine gave her the resilience needed to persevere in the world of competitive sports. Masters was adopted by an American couple when she was 7 years old. His legs were later amputated due to exposure to radiation from the Chernobyl disaster.

“I know life is not guaranteed and that’s why I don’t take anything for granted,” Masters said. “When I reflect… my personal journey is very similar to my athletic journey. I didn’t participate in my first Paralympic Games in 2008 when I wanted to. I know what it’s like to not make it, to make it, to win gold or to come out of a Paralympic Games without medals. I think that’s because I never gave up, when I was a little girl in Ukraine, until now.”

This is the eighth Paralympic Masters Games. He has competed in both summer and winter events since 2012, but said it’s impossible to choose which Games he likes best. Summer has “better tan lines and paddling,” but cross-country skiing at the Winter Paralympics is always unique, Masters says.

“You’ll never have the same route twice or the same lap twice,” he told News themezone. “When I ski at the start of the race, one lap, the second lap is different. So I’m constantly adapting and finding those fast lines, the fast snow. And I’m not going to settle. I’m constantly adjusting and pushing myself outside of my comfort zones and that’s something very unique to winter sports in general. I love that part.”

Masters is an icon among Paralympic athletes and a role model for some younger teammates. She said she feels lucky to “show both sides of an athlete and their journey” and show that “there is no perfect timeline” for achieving success.

“I feel like it’s an absolute honor to be able to show parts of my journey, the ups and downs, because I think it’s so important to see the gold medalists or (the rookies) that it doesn’t have to be easy, and often it isn’t, and that’s okay,” Masters said. “Just don’t give up on yourself or your dream.”

Meanwhile, his own inspiration is close to home.

“My mother is the number one reason I’m here and why I continue to push myself and try to prove to myself what’s really possible and prove to society what’s really possible,” Masters said.

The United States is currently in second place in the Paralympic Games medal table, with 12 medals, behind China, with 14 total medals.