Oksana Masters becomes most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian ever

Oksana Masters concluded the 2022 Winter Paralympics just like she started them: by winning gold.

The gold medal marks Masters’ seventh medal in her seventh start in Beijing, making her the first American to win seven medals at a single Winter Paralympics. The 32-year-old will leave Beijing as the most decorated athlete from these 2022 Winter Paralympics, as well as the most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian of all time.

Masters joined fellow Team USA athletes Sydney Peterson, Dan Cnossen, and Jake Adicoff (with guide Sam Wood) to win the cross-country skiing’s mixed 4×2.5km relay in Beijing.

The U.S. was in fourth at the final exchange, with Adicoff serving as anchor.

“We knew that we were going to come into that last leg with a bit of a deficit to make up, that’s just how the team is set up, but we thought it was going to be much larger and to get that 35-second back split we were just excited,” Adicoff said.

“The team worked so hard to make that as short as possible so that we would have easy work out there today.”

China crossed the finish line 26 seconds later to claim silver, while Canada won the bronze, finishing just over a minute behind the United States.

With her 14th winter medal, she becomes the most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian of all time. The previous record holders were Sarah Will and Sarah Billmeier, both of whom won 13 Paralympic medals in alpine skiing. Masters also owns three medals from the Summer Paralympics (one in rowing, two in cycling), bringing her total career count to 17.

With seven medals in Beijing, Masters won more medals than 37 of the 46 nations competing at the 2022 Winter Paralympics. She is also responsible for about one-third of the U.S. team’s 20 total medals.

Masters was born