17-time Paralympic medalist Oksana Masters says 'it's weird' to finally be recognized as one of the most dominant athletes across all sports

• Oksana Masters is one of the most decorated athletes in the history of the Paralympics.
• The 17-time medalist has competed — and medaled — in four sports across five Paralympic Games.

Oksana Masters has been one of America's most dominant athletes in this generation.

But it's taken until now — a full decade after she won her her first of 17 Paralympic medals — for the multi-sport star to begin getting the recognition she's long deserved.

"As an adaptive athlete and a Paralympic athlete and an athlete with disability, in society, it's sometimes so hard to be seen as an athlete and not just be seen for your disability or if you're in a chair or if you have prosthetics," Masters told Insider. "A lot of times they don't see that the sport you're doing is at a high competitive level."

It's easy to internalize that line of thinking, and even Masters — who, in 2022, became the most decorated US Winter Paralympian of all time — says she's been guilty of doing so throughout her illustrious career. So when she found herself on the shortlist for the 2022 ESPY award for "best female athlete, not just best female athlete with a disability" as she had been nominated for in the past, the cross-country skier, biathlete, rower, and cyclist began to feel as though she truly fits into the conversation alongside some of the biggest names in professional sports.

"In so many ways, I'm like, 'Ah, man, I don't belong here,'" Masters said. "But [the 2022 ESPYs] is where I realized I did belong there, with Katie Ledecky, Suni Lee, Candace Parker — all these incredible athletes that people know and have pictures of."

She adds that while it's still "so odd to for people to know me," it's incredible "to know athletes with disabilities are being seen and recognized as athletes," period. No asterisks or qualifiers.

And even on days when she wakes up and still questions, "Do I belong here?" at the pinnacle of the sports world, Masters reminds herself: "'Yeah, I do,' and I have to believe this and I have to show this for the kids" with disabilities who aspire to great athletic feats themselves.

Masters — who works closely with The Hartford and its Adaptive Sports program to provide adaptive sports equipment to aspiring athletes with disabilities — says "one of the coolest things" is watching the next generation of adaptive athletes exude total confidence in their abilities and the seriousness of their competitions.

"This younger generation, they don't have any doubt if they belong," Masters said. "They're like, 'I'm here, I'm going to the games, I have this goal, and I am an athlete.' And that is one of the most rewarding things to see is how they are not judging themselves based on what society has placed on them or how they would see them."

Masters surprised two such athletes with adaptive sports equipment at The Hartford Ski Spectacular back in December. Having equipment that fits properly makes all the difference, Masters says, adding that "it just accelerated everything" for her to get equipment of her own after borrowing someone else's early on in her adaptive sports career.

However, since athletes with disabilities necessarily need custom equipment to compete — or even to just be active — the cost of participating in adaptive sports is often prohibitively expensive. So upon gifting skis and poles to two aspiring Paralympians this winter, Masters immediately recognized the emotion behind "their jaws dropping to the ground and realizing that moment that this is theirs, their equipment, their own skis, and they're no longer gonna be borrowing someone else's.

"It's like if you have your favorite pair of shoes and you find your size, you're like, 'Yes!'" Masters said. "It's the same thing for like these individuals, when they realize this is mine and I get to go home with it. I don't have to figure out how to get this $20,000 piece of equipment and how I'm gonna buy this now, because that's what it costs for adaptive sports — and more."

Even as the foremost Paralympic star of her generation, Masters can relate to the feeling of freedom that comes with receiving proper equipment of your own. The seven-time gold medalist — whose legs were amputated at ages nine and 14 — "recently got a pair of running legs" and started running for the very first time as an adult.

"I've never felt anything like running before because I never had the ability to do it without the right equipment," Masters said. "And at 33 years old, I'm having that same expression and feeling as these individuals who we're surprising with custom equipment."

"I knew [that feeling] from when I was 13 years old," she added. "And now at 33, I still get that same feeling."

While Masters isn't sure yet whether she'll pursue any ambitions to run competitively, she acknowledges that "I do have a tendency to set the bar really high." For now, though, she's enjoying running for pleasure while recovering from a recent hand injury that required surgery.

"I'm down three; I have no legs and one arm," Masters joked. "I really cannot afford to do anything else."