American Oksana Masters wins her twentieth Paralympic medal:

Oksana Masters, the most decorated American Winter Paralympian, surprised even herself with a 20th-place finish. paralympic medal to its general account in Milan Cortina on Saturday.

After overcoming a series of adversities that hampered her preparations before the Games, Masters claimed victory in the women’s seated sprint discipline in Para biathlon, finishing ahead of fellow American Kendall Gretsch.

“My God, my emotions are pure shock. I wasn’t expecting this. All I was expecting was to have a good time at the range,” he said. “To be honest, I didn’t expect a podium, let alone a gold.”

It was his sixth Paralympic Winter Games gold medal with her. four wins at the Summer Paralympic Games. He has competed in every Paralympic Games since 2012, winning medals in Para cross-country and Para biathlon in winter and Para cycling and Para rowing in summer.

Masters was coming off a difficult season that included surgery, a bone infection and a concussion.

“I’m starting to realize that’s what I am. I have to have adversity before the Games, even though I don’t like it,” he said. “The summer started with surgery and then the last three weeks have been absolutely a lot of time not training, having an infection and a concussion, and fighting, and just trusting the process and waiting. That’s why this means so much more, I wasn’t expecting this.”

She thanked her “incredible team” for helping her recover and succeed again.

“I’m the athlete crossing the finish line, but we have a whole team with our coaches cheering us on, our skis and our wax team,” he said.

Masters has now won 15 Winter Games medals and five Summer Games medals. She became the first American to win seven medals (in seven events) in a single Paralympic Games at Beijing 2022.

Masters, 36, was born in Ukraine with birth defects believed to be linked to the Chernobyl nuclear accident. She had to go through orphanages at a young age in Ukraine before being adopted by an American father. His left leg was amputated when he was 9 years old and his right leg was amputated when he was 14 years old.

“For me, I have a very strong ‘why,’ where every hit counts for me,” he said. “It’s for every Paralympian, every athlete with a disability who was ignored and told they would never be enough and didn’t belong. That helps me overcome those adversities.”