This Paralympic champion is fighting for adaptive sports

Brut America

Born near Chernobyl in Ukraine, she was adopted by an American mother and became the most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian of all time.   Brut spoke to Oksana Masters about why she's fighting for more inclusivity in sports... Oksana Masters USA

Transcript

00:00I want to make this video to show you how I put on my legs.

00:03We're all different. We're not the same.

00:05Not all amputees are the same.

00:07And that's okay.

00:18My vision is one day that an athlete,

00:21able-bodied and adaptive athlete,

00:22can walk into a store and get their equipment

00:25or order it and it's side by side.

00:30My vision is one day that an athlete,

00:33able-bodied and adaptive athlete,

00:35can walk into a store and get their equipment

00:38or order it and it's side by side.

01:00One of the things I wish I told myself is just

01:09not hate what makes you look so different

01:12and what's setting you apart from this world

01:14because these differences are also,

01:17have hidden superpower and just

01:20hidden talent in them.

01:30She never gave up on me.

01:37She kept fighting for me.

01:38She was told multiple times,

01:40we have a baby here, we have a baby there.

01:42You wanted a baby anyways.

01:44And she said, no, this is my daughter.

01:53I was always active as a little girl

01:55and I got into ice skating, horseback riding.

01:58It wasn't until when I was 13 that I got,

02:01I was introduced to adaptive sports.

02:04And honestly, I did not want to do adaptive sports

02:07only because I felt like I was being limited,

02:10put in a bubble based on how I looked.

02:12When I first got on the boat and took my legs off,

02:15which I was terrified to do,

02:17where I just felt like I belonged somewhere finally.

02:21It transitioned from that moment to just

02:24falling in love with adaptive sports

02:26and sports in general to somebody saying,

02:29you can go and be competitive.

02:30And I was like, what? You can do that?

02:56It broke my heart going into Beijing,

03:12where it's supposed to be this,

03:14the highest moment of my athletic career,

03:17everything you look for to just be deflated a little bit

03:22because I do have family there

03:24and I am proud of Ukraine.

03:25And that is one of my favorite things as an athlete is

03:29especially at world championships and Paralympic Games

03:33is because those are the moments I get to walk in

03:36with the American flag and the Ukrainian flag side by side.

03:47When I'm about to give them their equipment

03:50and just see their face,

03:53it's like going back in time from when I got my first equipment

03:57and I felt that game changer for me.

03:59One was Amanda and she was just, oh my gosh,

04:03she freaked out when she found out her monoski was hers

04:07and she no longer had to drive one hour

04:11just to get from Wisconsin to Chicago area

04:15to use that equipment because that is the problem

04:18a lot of adaptive athletes are doing.

04:20They have to drive two to three hours

04:22just to even do it that one day and then go home.

04:35Honestly, when people are watching the highest level

04:39at the Paralympic Games on TV

04:41of all the equipment that we're using,

04:43I think what they don't realize is

04:46you don't just go online, order your bike,

04:50order your skis, order your legs or anything like that

04:54and then it just comes and it fits you perfectly

04:56like a pair of shoe size or something.

04:58What people don't realize too is

05:00if you have a piece of equipment

05:02and you're trying to get to that level,

05:04then it breaks.

05:05You have to go through that process all over again

05:07and it's an additional like some equipment

05:09and you're just putting $5,000 to $40,000

05:13Hartford's passion and ability that it has to inspire

05:18and bring awareness to adaptive sports

05:23and adaptive equipment is just...

05:27I wish I had it when I was a little girl.

05:29I wish that existed for me.

05:30I'm so happy, but I wish I had that too.

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