At Beijing 2022, Oksana Masters entered seven events and came home with seven medals. That's not luck. That's one of the most complete performances any American athlete has put together at a Winter Games.

Then a leg infection took the entire next season. Not a torn muscle or a training breakdown. An infection. The kind of thing that doesn't care how prepared you are.

On February 2, she was named to the 2026 U.S. Paralympic Nordic Skiing team and will compete in Milan.

What Happened

Masters, 36, doesn't fit neatly into one sport. She's been competing since 2012 across both Summer and Winter Games: biathlon, cross-country skiing, rowing, cycling. Most elite athletes narrow their focus over time. She kept expanding it.

The 2024-25 season should have been another year on the circuit. Instead, she spent it managing the infection and the recovery that followed. There was no dramatic injury announcement, no public timeline. Just a full year gone: no races, no ranking points, no momentum heading into an Olympic cycle.

Why the Return Is Significant

Masters is the most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian currently competing. At Beijing 2022, she entered seven events and came home with seven medals, one of the most complete performances any American athlete has produced at a Winter Games. That kind of record doesn't become irrelevant after one missed season.

The U.S. Paralympic Nordic Skiing team she's rejoining has been dominant this World Cup cycle: 51 medals combined, including 24 gold. She returns to a strong program and will compete alongside several athletes who spent the full 2024-25 season racing.

Her Competitive Schedule in Milan

Para biathlon at the 2026 Games begins Saturday, March 7, and runs through Friday, March 13. Para cross-country starts Tuesday, March 10, and runs through Sunday, March 15. Those are the windows where Masters will be most visible.

She has not announced a specific event list, but her usual range spans distances from sprint through long-distance events in both sports.

The Longer Story

Masters was born in Ukraine and spent her early years in an orphanage before being adopted by an American woman at age 7. She was born with multiple physical differences, including fused fingers, missing joints, and webbed toes, and had 13 surgeries before she entered her first Paralympic competition.

In 2020, she won the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability award. She was also the first Para athlete to receive a nomination in the Best Athlete, Women's Sports category at the ESPYs.

For families in the special needs community, her story carries a particular weight. Not as a feel-good narrative, but as evidence that the ceiling on athletic achievement is not fixed by a diagnosis. What she has done across swimming, rowing, cycling, biathlon, and cross-country skiing over the course of six Paralympic Games is genuinely rare.

What to Watch For

NBC and Peacock will carry more than 270 hours of coverage from Milan, and Masters will be among the most visible names on the Nordic team when biathlon and cross-country events begin.

If you're watching these Games with a child who has a physical disability, her races are the ones to find. Her story doesn't end cleanly. A full year of her career was just taken by something she couldn't train her way through. She's back for the next chance anyway. When you watch her race in March, you're watching proof that the story doesn't stop at the setback. For your family, that might be the most valuable thing you see at these Games.