Oksana Masters, the most decorated American Winter Paralympian, is part of a select group of multi-sport athletes who have been competing both in the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games, having to master different skills to succeed in entirely different disciplines every two years.
In the last two decades or so, there have been some 120 athletes participating in both the Summer and Winter Paralympics, according to the International Paralympic Committee.
Masters, who is a double leg amputee, competed in every Paralympics since 2012, earning medals in Para cross-country and Para biathlon in the winter and Para cycling and Para rowing in the summer.
“Trying to peak both in the summer and winter in one year is the hardest thing to try and perfect. In addition to being at a higher risk of overuse injury since there’s no true offseason,” Masters told The Associated Press. “Mentally it is absolutely challenging and physically, especially in the first few months of transitioning back where I can go from what was a great peak season for me and skiing and when I transitioned to cycling in the summer, it is completely different muscle groups, complete different engine, completely different way of propelling my body forward.”
Masters said it’s “hard not to panic as it truly feels like you’re starting a sport for the first time even though you’re coming off of a strong season and being fit for something completely different."
“It is truly rebuilding your body every six months or so," Masters said. "That is also probably something that is challenging, but keeps me hungry and constantly learning new things of what I’m capable of achieving in my approach to sports.”
Masters is entering her eighth Paralympics having won 14 medals in the Winter Games (five gold) and five medals in the Summer Games (four gold). Masters became the first American to win seven medals — in seven events — at a single Paralympics in Beijing 2022.
The 36-year-old Masters was born in Ukraine with birth defects believed to be related to the Chernobyl nuclear accident. She had to go through orphanages at an early age in Ukraine before being adopted by an American father. She had her left leg amputated at age 9, and her right leg amputated at age 14.
Masters began her Paralympic career in Para rowing in London 2012, and two years later transitioned to the snow to compete in Nordic Para skiing at Sochi 2014. Two years later she also competed in Para cycling at Rio 2016.
Masters noted the financial difficulties of competing in both seasons, especially in sports that require custom equipment. She said hand cycles can cost from 20,000 to 50,000 euros ($23,600 to $59,000), while sit-skis for Para cross-country skiing can range from 8,000 to 30,000 euros ($9,400 to $35,400).
“It is very challenging honestly to financially support my journey to both Summer and Winter Games because instead of four years to break things up, it is every two years,” she said. “Often times I wonder would it be a lot easier if I was just a swimmer where the financial cost would be more simple and traditional of training, coaching and travel for races.”
Masters said she is lucky to have partners now, but she started “chasing these dreams living out of my car.”
“Unfortunately, I'm still paying out of my own pocket and funding my own way to compete in both Summer and Winter Games because there still is a little bit of a discrepancy between Paralympic athletes and Olympic athletes, and right now both sports are very expensive," she said.
Some of the most successful multi-sport athletes in history include Heinz Frei, a wheelchair racer from Switzerland who first competed in the Winter Paralympics in 1984 and finished his career at Tokyo 2020. Frei, a paraplegic after an accident in 1978, won more than 30 medals across all editions, including 15 golds.
Reinhild Möller of Germany won more than 20 medals while competing in Para athletics and Para alpine skiing from 1980 to 2006.
Candace Cable became the first American woman to win medals at both the Summer and Winter Paralympics in 1992. She went on to win 12 medals in Para athletics, Para alpine skiing, and Nordic Para skiing through 2006.
Here's a look at some of the other Para athletes who are also set to be competing at Milan Cortina:
Oksana’s fiance, Aaron Pike, is an American wheelchair racer, biathlete and Para cross-country skier who will be chasing his first medal in his eighth Paralympic Games appearance. He has won two individual world titles in Para biathlon and one in mixed-relay Para cross-country skiing since Beijing 2022. Pike finished in a tie for 54th at the men’s wheelchair marathon in Paris 2024.
“I have been able to come off of the winter season and get into the racing chair and feel strong within four weeks,” he told the IPC. “I would attribute that to the fact that I have been doing wheelchair racing for about 12 years. Without that long history in the racing chair, it would not be possible. And they are very compatible, luckily.”
Gretsch is a triathlete, biathlete and Para cross-country skier who in Pyeongchang 2018 became the first American to win a biathlon medal at either the Olympic or Paralympic Games. Gretsch won the gold in Para triathlon at Tokyo 2020, becoming just the fifth American — and only the third American woman — to win gold both in the Summer and Winter Paralympics. She added three more medals in Beijing 2022, and another in Paris 2024.
“Every competition is a new challenge, but each one prepares you for the next. It’s about finding strength in the transition,” she told Olympics.com.
The 54-year-old German who will compete in Para biathlon and Para skiing will be making her ninth Paralympic Games appearance. She began her Paralympic career in Beijing 2008, winning seven gold medals in both the Summer and Winter Games in Para cycling and Para biathlon.
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
