Just keep moving forward.
Oksana Masters
I can go days without eating if I don't think about food. Your mind, to protect itself, learns not to pay attention to that hunger feeling.
It doesn't matter what kind of body you have, it's the determination and the spirit that's going to get you there. I want to prove that.
My hair is super fine, so I love using Batiste Dry Shampoo to give it volume after I shower and dry my hair. It also gives me extra body and texture for when I choose to wear my hair in a French braid.
Growing up in a very poor orphanage in Ukraine, there wasn't much food.
I don't know why, but I love sunflowers, and I just have this vivid memory of being in a field of sunflowers and how they felt like trees. They felt so tall.
I was a troublemaker.
When you're using your upper body to live, you get to know how to move every muscle.
Sports were a way for me to get comfortable with my body. I learned to appreciate everything I could still do.
I was supposed to be adopted when I was five, but then my adoption was pushed back by two years.
I'm a coffee lover.
Sport has definitely been an outlet for me.
I definitely went through a period where I don't want to say I hated myself, but I hated what I saw in the mirror. I would try to cover it up, and it wasn't until I started doing sports - until after London 2012 - that I kind of started getting more of that confidence in my body and appreciating my body.
I usually like to keep my hair and makeup routines pretty simple after I work out but always need a little bit of mascara to finish off the look. I just swipe some on and then am good to go for the rest of the day.
I wear my prosthetics legs every day, and when I train in the gym, I call them my Lamborghini, because both legs and sockets, which extend up to my hips to keep the legs on via a suction seal, cost about $305,815.
My mom literally saved my life. I wasn't supposed to make it out of the orphanage.
When I ski, I take both of my legs off and get into a sit ski: a ski with a custom seat that has been molded for me. I use my core and arms to propel myself on snow with help from ski poles.
The biggest challenge during competition is keeping my real legs warm with clothing, because I have poor circulation in the tissue around the amputated areas.
It's extremely important for my sit ski to be perfectly fit to me. If it's too big, and I shift around, the energy and strength I put into propelling myself forward will be lost. The right fit is everything in my sport.
With cycling, I can still be active and compete, and ultimately, that's what I love to do, to be competitive.
Time trialing is one of those things that you've got to train for... Being a new rider, it's still really hard for me to know what's the most efficient gear for me to be in. The road race is probably more exciting, in my opinion, because it's a lot faster pace, and people are constantly attacking.
I started doing sports when I was 13 and competitively doing sports - where I was actually training - when I was 17.
I never thought I'd be able to go back to Ukraine.
I am so happy I have been able to channel all the things that I went through when I was younger and make them into something positive.
I like to keep my hair and makeup routines easy and simple on race days.
I'm chasing that gold medal.
Every single race that I get on the podium in biathlon, I'm shocked.
I think it is very unfortunate that there is a ban on adoptions in Russia.
That's what I'm focused on, having that perfect race.
I was missing the main weight-bearing bone in both legs. And the left leg, I didn't have a full knee. It was a floating knee. I had six toes. My hands were webbed, and I also have one kidney. I don't have a full bicep on my right side. Thank God my hair didn't get ruined.
I could use a little more body, but I'm happy with it.
It's weird to not know what a family is. Not know what a mother's love is. And not really know what a hug is or anything.
I remember seeing the Olympics when I was 13. I always wanted to know how it felt to stand on top of the podium hearing your country's anthem while watching your flag being raised in something you poured your heart and soul into.
I never in a million years thought I would be able to be a Paralympic athlete.
I didn't find out about the Paralympics until I was 18 years old. Once I found out what the Paralympics were, I was so excited to know I had a chance to represent my country and wear Team U.S.A. on my back.
In 2013, I had the chance to try cross-country skiing on snow and just fell in love with being in nature and how hard it was to pick up the sport. And the snow is sparkly.
The realization that I'm never going to run again, the feeling through my hair when you run... you're still a kid. You still have so much life to live.
The mind is really powerful.
I've gotten a lot of people saying. 'That is awesome. You're so brave.' I hate when people say brave. I'm not brave. I'm just living my life. Why is that brave?
You don't get any second chances.
I'm just stupid and too headstrong.
It's insane going from skiing to cycling. Even though you are in prime shape, you feel like you have never worked out a day in your life.
I was born with legs, but they were so deformed.
Cycling's primarily a pushing motion, and skiing is more pulling, so it kind of balances out the body.
I use Olay Total Effects Tone Correcting CC Cream in place of foundation post-workout. I absolutely love that it's quick, easy, and something I can use on the go. It evens out my skin tone, provides SPF 15 protection, and leaves my skin feeling breathable, healthy, and moisturized.
I am very lucky to be living my dream.
In 2012, I was invited to a ski event called the Hartford Ski Spectacular to learn how to sit-ski for the first time. I loved it, but it was not pretty - I was not good. I didn't know how to stop, so I kept throwing myself on the ground.
I'm stubborn; once I start something, I want to see how far I can go.
It's hard to understand the athlete's lifestyle. You literally eat, sleep, train. You go to training camps in the winter where there is no Internet, you can't make phone calls.
I'm a person that, once I start something, I can't just quit it.
