Passion Struck with John R. Miles - Paralympian Oksana Masters on How the Hard Parts Lead To Triumph EP 257

Episode Date: February 21, 2023

Oksana Masters, the most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian or Olympian ever, reveals on the Passion Struck Podcast that people often express their admiration for her achievements and assume it was an easy path for her. However, she explains that she faced numerous challenges along the way. She did not qualify for her first Paralympic Games and failed to make the national skiing team. In fact, she was even homeless, living in a car just before the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, where she won silver and bronze medals for cross-country skiing. She has gone on to win 17 medals in skiing, rowing, cycling, and biathlon. We discuss her new memoir, The Hard Parts. Oksana Masters and I Explore Her Memoir "The Hard Parts" Oksana Masters' story is one that transcends any single category or definition. It is a tale of both horror and heroism, disdain and love, excruciating pain, and immense joy. She has been an orphan, a double-leg amputee, a Ukrainian, an American, and a seven-time Paralympic gold medalist. Yet, none of these labels can fully capture the complexity of her life, which we explore in today's episode. Full show notes and resources can be found here: https://passionstruck.com/oksana-masters-the-hard-parts-lead-to-triumph/  Brought to you by Indeed. --► For information about advertisers and promo codes, go to: https://passionstruck.com/deals/  Like this show? Please leave us a review here -- even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter or Instagram handle so we can thank you personally! --► Prefer to watch this interview: https://youtu.be/WwdbZoUVTiM  --► Subscribe to Our YouTube Channel Here: https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnRMiles Want to find your purpose in life? I provide my six simple steps to achieving it - passionstruck.com/5-simple-steps-to-find-your-passion-in-life/ Want to hear my best interviews from 2022? Check out episode 233 on intentional greatness and episode 234 on intentional behavior change. ===== FOLLOW ON THE SOCIALS ===== * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/passion_struck_podcast * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnrmiles.c0m  Learn more about John: https://johnrmiles.com/ 

Coming up next on the Passion Struck Podcast. It really all started turning around where I started realizing that I'm going to make this dream real because of all the negativity that kept coming and everyone determining so much for me. And I guess maybe my dream was starting to advocate for myself and that by doing it by showing and not just trying to fight back with words, but just proof what someone with no legs can do, and a girl can do, or that you can come through these really messy, horrible experiences,

and use those horrible sad things, or the bad days as fuel, and being that secret weapon to guide you in where you want to go. Welcome to PassionStruck. Hi, I'm your host, John Armiles. And on the show, we decipher the secrets, tips, and guidance of the world's most inspiring people and turn their wisdom into practical advice for you and those around you.

Our mission is to help you unlock the power of intentionality so that you can become the best version of yourself. If you're new to the show, I offer advice and answer listener questions on Fridays. We have long form interviews, the rest of the week with guest-ranging from astronauts to authors, CEOs, creators, innovators, scientists, military leaders, visionaries, and athletes. Now, let's go out there and become PassionStruck. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to episode 257 of Passion Struck and thank you to each

and every one of you who comes back weekly to listen and learn, how to live better, be better and impact the world. If you're new to this show, thank you so much for being here. Or you simply want to introduce this to a friend or family member. We now have episodes at our packs, which are collections of our fans' favorite episodes that we organize into convenient topics. I give any new listener a great way to get acquainted to everything we do here on the show. Either go to Spotify or PassionStruct.com slash starter packs to get started. In case you missed

my interviews from last week, they included my friend Matt Higgins, who's the co-founder and CEO of RSC Ventures, a Harvard Business School Professor, and a guest shark on ABC Shark Tank. And we discuss his brand new debut book, Burn the Boats. I also interviewed Annie Duke, who was an author, former professional poker player, corporate speaker, and consultant in the decision-making space. We discuss Annie's latest book, Hidled Quit, the power of knowing when to walk away. Please check both of those episodes out if you haven't had a chance to catch them yet. And I wanted to thank you so much for your ratings and reviews, which are going such a long way in improving the popularity of the show, but more importantly bringing more people into

the passion star community, where we can give them weekly doses of inspiration, hope, connection, and meaning. Now let's talk about today's episode, which is a very special one with Oksana Masters. Oksana was born in Ukraine in 1989 and faced numerous physical challenges due to utero radiation poisoning that was caused by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. After living in three orphanages, Oksana was finally adopted at the age of seven. And then over the course of seven years, she would have both legs amputated and endured a host of other surgeries. At age 13, she discovered Rowan, and in 2012,

she brought home the first of 17 her Olympic medals in four different sports. In 2020, she won the Laura Spurled Sports Award in the category of sports person of the year with the disability. She has been featured in such publications as sports illustrated in New York Times and the player's Tribune and has appeared on numerous television programs, including Real Sports with Bryant Cumble. At the Beijing Paralympics in 2022, Oksana became the most decorated US Winter Paralympian or Olympian ever and has been awarded seven gold medals.

And today I interview Oksana about her brand new book, The Hard Parts, a memoir of Courage and Triumph. Thank you for choosing Passion Struck and choosing me to be your host and guide on your journey to creating an intentional life. Now, let that journey begin. I am absolutely ecstatic today to welcome Oksana Masters to the Passion Struck podcast. Welcome. Hi, John. How are you? I'm so excited to be here. Well, for those who are listening, they can't see me putting up

your brand new book, but it's called The Hard Parts, MMORR of Courage and Triumph. Congratulations. Thank you so much. I literally still get goosebumps when I see it, but I can't believe that I'm here talking with you about it. Like the day of this wild. Well, I'm going to start out with a topic that you and I both love, and as I was getting ready for your interview I happened to listen to a great episode and Interview that you did on Julie Foudy's podcast And I found out by listening to it that you and I share a common passion for coffee And I don't think I'm as big as you are based on all the apparatus you have but I have

the Nespresso, I have the French press, I have a drip coffee maker. I have the current. I knew this was going to be a good day. I could feel it. This time I was like, I'm not going to like set up my station, like the camera facing the camp, the whole coffee is set up because I thought it was a little ridiculous. All the machines I do have, because I'm just like you with espresso, the French press, the Aero press, the pour over all these things. And I just don't believe when people say they don't like coffee, like I don't get it. Well, what's your favorite at all of them? Well, I love Americano. If the shot is pulled, and I am that person that I will measure and like the grind and the coffee bean has to be fresh. My Miracano is my favorite or just like adopio, which is just well

Makiato, like a real Makiato, not a Starbucks Makiato where it's like two shots of espresso with a little bit of foam too. So good Well, the Maricano is my favorite as well, and it's my dad's favorite as well. But did you start out drinking coffee like black or when you first started, did you put things in it? When I started drinking coffee, I was in the military and I was standing watch on a ship and in order to stay up on the lack of sleep that we had. Oh my gosh. Coffee was like the only thing that you could go to, but the only option was that crappy white powder

that you could put into a creamer or drink it black. And I couldn't stand that stuff. So I just started drinking it black and on the ship it was terrible coffee. But now I'm- And it got my job done. But now I'm like you, I think the most important thing to me is you got to grind it fresh. It's never going to come out good.

It makes a huge difference. Oh my gosh, it totally does. Well, I'm going to jump into the book. Your life has been filled with many difficulties that we're going to get into. There are hard parts in every sense of the word, which is why I love your book. What was the hardest part about writing it? I think during the process, what I learned a lot was it was very therapeutic, sharing my story and then writing it too, but it was very different

collaborative cast of Randall. She basically took my words and everything and put them into this art, into this book, and the whole process of it all kind of realized there's a lot I haven't processed yet, and there's a lot that I need to still work through, but this was so therapeutic, and it reminded me of

besides how lucky I am to be here, it just reiterated and reminded me of everyone has a story. It doesn't matter like what happens to you or the level of that and it's worth sharing because you just have no idea how it's going to impact someone or someone's going to connect with it in a way that you never see coming. And I think for me, even though that like, oh, I had on my wise, I realized, wow, I still have so much of myself to heal from and recover from and continue to grow. from and recover from and continue to grow. Well, I loved the way it was written and how even when you were in the orphanage, which we're going to get to, you talk so vividly about what you were experiencing and it really

makes the reader get drawn into the book. So I really enjoyed the read and I have to tell you. Thank you. That was so hard. I literally, so when I worked on it, I knew what a lot of people don't realize when I was starting to write this also, I was training for two games. It was the Tokyo 2020 summer games and then instantly six months later was going to be the Beijing winter games. And I knew sharing those deeper parts of the orphanage, it was going to have this impact on me,

reliving those memories. And so, like, that was the first thing I got out, and oh my gosh, it was like a deep cleanse to, like, the rest of it. Well, I know because we've both been through our own versions of trauma, and it's something I like to talk about on the show is everyone encounters obstacles, some are more severe than others, but everyone experiences trauma differently. And I'm just glad that you're continuing this healing process. And I could tell from the book that it's definitely a way for you to continue your healing and to get it out there in a form that you can grow from it, but in a way that also the listeners today and readers of the book can also grow from it.

So I thought that was a really important aspect of it. So thank you for bringing this to the world. Thank you. I didn't really want people when they read the hard parts to just learn about my experience, my story. What my goal and my hope and dream is when I read a read that is they feel ten feet taller and just feel empowered to face and overcome or work through their own hard parts and not let them define them and choose to live in those

moments of what may seem like a lifetime in impossible to overcome, but it's not the forever moments either. No, it's not. You and I have another thing in common in a strange way. This one's actually hard for me to talk about. I grew up 20 miles from 3 mile island, and I lost my fiance to a very rare form of cancer that they

believe was caused by her living literally about a half a mile from the plant in a town called Middleton in Pennsylvania. exposure from Chernobyl when you were in your mom's womb. And from what I understand, it's left you with one kidney, a partial stomach, you don't have a left bicep, web fingers, no thumbs if I have a correct. And your left leg was six inches shorter than your right. And your tibia bones were absent in both. I mean, like, wow. And I don't curl either on top of that. It's just straight. I don, like, wow. And they're on currently there on top of that is just straight. I don't know, back out.

What seems like I know more women who have curly hair who are trying to straighten it and go the opposite way. Always wanting what you don't have. When I came to America, the doctors, they, it was radiation because a lot of times when birth defects, I mean, found evidence of radiation in my adult teeth when they took the X-rays, but then also a lot of times when you're born at the birth defects, it normally affects one part of the body, but radiation does that it just affects like everywhere all over your body, not just one localized leg impairment vision or hand impairment. And yeah, like when I learned about that, I was a kid. Of course, I did the obvious. I'm like, oh, radiation. Okay. So do I glow in the dark and like, where's my Hulk superpowers that he got, which I don't have any of that. I don't go on a dark or anything. I'm so sorry about your fiance though. though. Well, thank you for that. I mean, it's been a while, but she was very young. Unfortunately, when she died in her early 20s,

well, I did want to ask, given all of that, how were you in the circumstances that you found yourself in, living in an orphanage, even at that young and age, able to overcome these birth defects and become the rascal that you turned out to be. That was born, just a rascal getting in trouble and my mom, that's what a lot of readers will find out, but she calls me as her resilient rascal, but the funny thing is I didn't really realize and see that I was different

and I had all these physical differences about me in the orphanage. It wasn't until I was adopted and came to America and learned English and realized and other kids pointed out like, oh, you look funny, you talk weird because of the accent, I didn't speak English. And that's when I noticed I looked different

and I'm like, wait a minute, what does this mean? I knew I was the smallest in the orphanage. And by that, like the smallest ones always get treated like just the last one to get medical knee care last one till I get food or whatever it is. And I didn't realize how different I looked and how I got around. And I think maybe it was because the orphanage, the vivid memories you're referring to and I explain in the book. And it just so, when I close my eyes, it's just so raw and the smell

and the sounds it's so there. And it's in the last orphanage because I lived in three orphanages. And it's the last one before my mom came that when you're like six to seven, I remember a lot and it was, I think that rascal side of me was a form of survival and just being gritty and fighting and scrappy. Well, for someone, depending on where they're listening to this from, because we're listening to in over a 100 countries weekly, but different countries have different images

of what an orphanage probably is like. Can you provide some deeper insight into what it was like growing up in orphanage in the Ukraine? It's so funny. I literally just recently was in Colorado and had an injury. So I was getting,

recovering from surgery from that. But then I connected with one of the young girls who was in Colorado and had an injury. So I was getting, recovering from a surgery from that. But then I connected with one of the young girls who was in the second orphanage and her family adopted her and they live in Colorado. And we shared one middle orphanage together and then she went separate place and I went separate place. And I don't remember this one because I was around four years old, but her parents took pictures and there's color there, there's food, because her bowl is full of stuff.

And I was like, wait a minute, I can have any of this. You had that, you had color, you had clothes, you had TV, you had boys. And you're right, they're different from every country. They're going to be different. And Eastern European orphanages, for the most part, and part of Ukraine that I was in was about it was north and the exhaust love Ukraine and it was a very small village and so the

resources were even more limited there and it was really cold. I remember there's not a lot of color just being really hungry all the time and just really had the salty broth and it's probably why I love salt to this day and we'll just eat salt like out of the shaker itself. But there was and toys that we got to play with. My mom tried to send me some but they just put it up on top of a shelf and just look at it, you don't play with it. And like when my mom came to adopt me, the night she was finally able to come,

she saw people in her hands and knees chipping away at broken radiator that busted, and there was no heating in there. And so there's ice in there, chipping away that ice, so people could walk in the hallways. I mean, that's just like, then, environmental side. And then And then not that everybody was horrible, but a lot of mistreatment and abuse does happen in a lot of those government ran orphanages. And sadly, that is not specific to just Ukraine. I mean, a lot of orphanages that don't have the resources. A lot of kids struggle with that. And as hard as it was for me to write about my experience and the details I talk about in the book that are really challenging to read and also was challenging to talk to and relive. It was really important for me to share that because I want people to realize this is the reality. I think some people know, but they don't want to know

and believe that this is happening to kids. And it was, it's really important for me to share that. And then, yeah. Well, one of the things I've loved you talking about was your friend Laney because when you were in these orphanages, many of the other kids were getting adopted, which must have been difficult for you, but you and Laney were there for a period of time and given some of your birth defects, she

would become your protector. And unfortunately, just before you were adopted, she unfortunately passed away. But can you tell me a little bit about her and how that friendship has impacted you even till today? I mean, the way it impacted me today is my reason why I choose not to live in this moment of what happened to me and just have just hatred in this life, in this world, into people, because she just lived with so much love and had so much passion. And I think we were each

other's family. She also, what people will learn in the book is the way she died and how she died. It wasn't just a death. And I witnessed what happened to her. And what I didn't realize is how much she protected me from until she was gone. And then a lot of things would happen to me after that. Something I'm still learning how to process and how to talk about because I've suppressed this memory about her so long. But then the way when I'm racing and training, I think about her and this way and this book and sharing this is having her legacy live on, because I felt so lucky to get out of there.

And I witnessed other kids, like you said, getting adopted when they were younger, but I also witnessed a lot of kids who don't make it out of there and at the hands of some of the abuse that happens on. And I felt guilty that I was the one that made it, she did it, make it. There's a lot of kids that didn't make it and I carried that on with me when I looked in the mirror and just regretted and just that amount of guilt you have when you're the one that survives and gets the family and have what you have now. And I think about her and everything I do. And like the sunflowers behind me is that was her favorite sunflower, her fount flower. And she's just, I think in a really, really horrible darkness, she was that angel in that light for me of that hope and I just didn't get to live out,

we lived that out together, but... Well, I love how even today, you're honoring her in the dedication to the life that you've created and into the resolve that you have to overcome your challenges and to do things that no one in a million years would have thought would have been possible. So it's kind of a living legacy to your dedication and memory to her. Yeah, thank you.

That's the best way for her to make sure she lives on and her death just didn't go. I know it isn't she wasn't unnoticed at all. And I like to hope that she's proud of what I chose to do. Probably would tell me to stop being like so rescually sometimes and getting me from trouble. But I think it's, she's always gonna be in my why in this whole lifetime that I live.

Well, I wanted to jump into talking a little bit about your mom, gay masters. And I told you before the show that my brother adopted two children from Haiti. And I think his story and your mom's parallel each other in many different ways, Patrick. Could have adopted a child from anywhere, but he wanted to adopt one from Haiti

because he knew the terrible circumstances that they existed in and the church that my parents went to sponsored a school there for Haitian kids. But similar to your mom, it took multiple years once he started the process before he got Gabe eventually because of all the corruption and politics that got in the way of the process. And I remember as he was going through it, it was such an ordeal. And he was a little bit worried because Gabe was much older when he got him then they had first thought. Can you tell me about your mom's crusade? Yeah. Yeah, so that actually happens

often. That area, he has getting adopted from those type of countries and those areas. It's, you don't, the age is different when they come and they found that out usually by their 12 year mollers and stuff. But my mom, I think the paths are similar and then also had their own differences within that because she was battling the whole, just like him, the political side of things, and then the moratorium that Ukraine put, which is a ban on all foreign adoptions and dragged it on over and over. And similarly to your brother too, like she could have gone and was strongly encouraged to go and adopt from Russia or from other countries that you could just get the baby within a few weeks instead of just waiting for this girl. And she never,

ever gave up on me. And it sounds like just like your brother never gave up on Gabe and like when I was afraid to share certain parts of my story and to put it out there in a book for the world and one of the things I shared parts of it through a separate project. And I got a lot of messages. I've never saw this coming, but I got messages from like kids who were adopted and said, I went through, I was from Ukraine too, or from an area that's similar. And I've experienced the same exact things.

What I did not expect and realize are parents who adopted. And they reached out to thank you so much for sharing this because no, I'll understand my child more. I know how to be a better parent now and will be patient and letting them tell me their experiences and their memories especially as they're older and I can't imagine. Sounds like your brother adopted Gabe when he was older and my mom got me when I was almost turning eight and she meant to get me at five and the whole political bureaucracy of things made it very challenging and she says I'm a resilient rascal, but she is the most resilient person I know. And that's.

I think I learned how to be that by her example that she lived and fought for me. Well, she comes and gets you. She brings you to the United States. And then over a period of a number of years, you have to get both of your legs, ultimately amputated. What was it like having to go through that and then how through that ordeal. did you discover rowing at the age of 13? We were in Buffalo, New York, and her job was transferring to Louisville, Kentucky, and I thought it was the end of the world. Like what is there in Kentucky to deal with?

So I was like, there's country music, I don't like country music at that time, which I love it now, but I was just so afraid of that and just not knowing it. My mom said, you'll find new passions there, new, your new love there. I was ice skating in Buffalo and I found rowing. I don't know where I would be during the process

of getting the news of them telling me, okay, you have to amputate your leg, but you have to let us know when you're ready. It's one of those things that it's your choice, but it's not your choice. Here's the window that you have to make your choice by. And I was rowing at that time. And so that's where I've really processed a lot of stuff.

Going back towards a little bit, my mom adopted me and came to America and I was seven and a half and lived in Buffalo, New York. And she waited a year before she made the decision for me to amputate my left leg. So I had an amputate when I was nine because she thought it would be better because we didn't speak each other's languages at all. And I didn't know what a family was. There was a whole lot of misgesters where she would make something, but like as a kid

in the orphanage, I learned really early on to never show emotion and never cry, so I was really sick, and I was smiling and telling my mom, it didn't feel good, I was sick, and vomit everywhere, and she realized, okay, we were not moving, just communicating, the hand gestures, but she wanted me to connect with her and bond with her and trust her and learn the language, so they're not just like taking me from what was my home and then taking my legs off. And that honestly, that first

imputation above the knee, I don't know if it's because I was a kid and kids just bounce back and are so resilient and move forward so quickly with that stuff. It was when I was 14 in Louisville, Kentucky, after he's starting growing, getting the news of, we're gonna have to amputate this leg, let us know when you're ready, but it has to be within this month window,

front timeframe. And this is after years and years of them telling me, like, we're gonna save it, you'll never have to lose this leg. And as a 14 year old girl, that is, a bad hair day is horrible. If you got for a big alpha, doesn't match, or you're having a bad hair day, and then the idea of taking off another leg, that's when I really started to kind of not downrolls viral, but just really start to kind of get depressed and dark and angry. And a lot of it just started coming out,

mixed with a lot of memories from Ukraine that were starting to come that I suppressed and did not work by just bearing it deep down. And eventually I had the leg amputated there was some really bad complications with the second amputation that I share in the book and that was the hardest thing. I share in the book and that was the hardest thing and probably the one I still am not fully over yet and there's still some bad days with it, like a dis frustration. But what got me through it and through all those days in the hospitals and through all those lies that it was getting back out in the water and just never stopping once I'm able to like finally move again and get out of that bed. Well, I can't even imagine what that would be like. I do know in the case of my fiance who died that they wanted to amputate her leg in the hopes that it would have prevent the cancer from spreading

to her lymph nodes. And at the time she didn't want to do it because she was a model and just thought it would negatively impact her life in so many ways. And so she decided not to do it. I look back and wonder if she had, would she still be here today? So I can't even imagine though what you were going through with everyone telling you that this late was going to be saved and now you have to make this decision, you know how hard it was to overcome it the first time. Now you got to do it the second time. And I wanted to segue here with that as a backdrop because last year I interviewed a mentor of mine who was my physics teacher when I went to the Naval Academy and at the time she was a helicopter pilot in the Navy. She was in the second class of

females that ever graduated from the Naval Academy, but she always had this dream of becoming an astronaut. And while we were together during her tenure there, she found out she was accepted into the astronaut program and ended up doing several missions on the shuttle. But one of the things that the first female from the Naval Academy to ever flying space. And one of the things that she talks about is that you have to give yourself permission to dream your dream. But she finds today that so many youngsters, when she goes out and publicly speaks, today stop at the first sign of struggle. And what I wanted to ask you is, here you face more challenges that most

of us will ever know. What is your advice for how you yourself gave yourself the permission to dream your dream? And what lesson would you want a listener to take from that? I don't know if I really gave myself permission to dream because I think I was guilty of falling into allowing society and it's like guilty of allowing myself to think in the same way others outside looking at me and society and determining what I was capable of doing and what I could do based on my appearance and based on my experiences. And I grew up like when I got capable of doing and what I could do based of my appearance and based on my experiences.

And I grew up like when I got out of the orphanage and I had no voice as a little kid in orphanage and then I came to America and then I had a lot of therapy and a lot of doctors trying to tell me, well, I'm medications I have to take to be normal and then people are telling me what to do with my body and then letting outside noises, telling me how I should view myself and set my goals

and oh, you can't do that. And so I didn't realize I could dream and what dreaming really meant. I dreamed in like the be amazing, but it was hard for me to really believe I could achieve something or be something because I never really saw someone who looked like me doing it. And then I was rowing,

really all started turning around where I started realizing that I'm going to make this dream real because of all the negativity that kept coming. And everyone determining so much for me. And I guess maybe my dream was starting to advocate for myself. And that's by doing it by showing and not just trying to fight back with words, but just proof what Someone with no legs can do and a girl can do or that you can come through so these really messy horrible experiences and use those horrible sad things or the bad days as fuel and

Being that secret weapon to guide you and where you want to go. And I wish that, I don't know if that makes sense at all. I don't know. No, it does. And it leads me into someone I didn't think about until now. But do you happen to know who Jenbrook or Bowers? I don't.

Okay, I'll tell you a little about her. Jen is a personal friend of mine and she was a prior guest on the show. But she has a very similar story to you. She's Romanian and her birth parents gave her up at the hospital when she was born because she was born with birth defects. In fact, she was born without legs. So her legs end at about her hips. And she was in and out of foster care programs because no one wanted to adopt her because her issues. And in fact, many of the doctors said she's not going to live past seven or eight years of age. But a loving family in a small town in Illinois decided to adopt her. And the one thing that they told her all along was you can never say the word in our family I can't because you can do anything.

And it turns out that she had this love for gymnastics. And specifically she admired this American gymnast named Dominique Maseano, who was Romanian and looked like her. Wait a minute. I think I know this story. I don't know her specifically, but that ends up being her sister, right? It turns out to be her sister. Yeah. Oh, this is the, oh, I got goosebumps. That's just wild. Like, yes, I'm very much aware of her story, just not her as an individual person. Well, I'm going to introduce the two of you because I think you would be so inspirational for each other.

You guys remind me a lot about each other. But what I was going to lead into it, she went from that to being the first non-able person to ever win a state championship in tumbling. And now she's on the world stage as an air-list and opened up for Britney Spears on one of her tours and has written a New York Times best-selling book. But the name of her book is everything is possible. But for her it's not just an autobiography and she doesn't feel like she's the role model

for anybody facing challenges. She just feels as if she just had the mindset that anyone could have to overcome adversity. And I just wanted to ask you, do you kind of feel the same way? I think we all as humans were resilient. And we have what it takes to overcome adversity. It's literally in the mind and it's not gonna be your body, a physical thing.

It's what you tell yourself. And I do believe there's a lot of that saying, like whether you say yes or no, you're probably right because if you say no, you've already made that up and in your mind, but then if you say yes, I can, I'm gonna try, I'm gonna do instead of the opposite. You're going to overcome it. Humans are so resilient.

Sometimes it's hard to do it on your own, but that's why sharing stories and seeing is believing. You see someone that has something similar to you or you see someone, you're like, realize, okay, I'm ready to face my own adversity and overcome it and I can do it. And it's not going to look the same for everyone. It's not necessarily going to be the same timeline for someone. And that is okay, I think because we're human, it's okay to allow ourselves to have that grace to have those bad days, but making sure like every single day like there's something that you do

That is going to positively help you move forward in in your goals and in your challenges or Anything and just in this lifetime, but yeah, I definitely think every single human is possible of overcoming their own adversity. And it's just whether you want to and believing it in yourself, because a lot of times your mind will create more challenges for you. No, it's completely true. I mean, one of the things I have had on this show

is a plethora of behavioral scientists, neuroscientists, all discussing behavioral change and behavioral science. And it all comes down to the micro choices, micro decisions that we make every day of our lives. And it's the plethora of those choices that ends up turning into greatness or the opposite. But it all starts with the choice that you want to get away from

the circumstances that you're in to what you aspire to be. Yeah, and not allowing to settle and define a lot of times. It's like some people, they're like, well, I'm going to be a product of my environment, but you don't have to be because a lot lot of people, like, okay, so you were a child, you were abused, you were abandoned, you were XYZ, now you're somebody with a disability, so a lot of people like determine, like, well, this is what people, like this is what you're capable of doing kind of thing

and not letting you just sit there and be, just let them determine that and dictate that for you. Like, it's okay to dream outside of that. And I think it's sometimes bad days are technically. I feel like, and it's hard because there's some days where I'm just like, oh my gosh, that's not, I have a hard time absorbing my own words. But I do believe there's a part where bad experiences

or if you didn't get that promotion or you didn't get that grade or you didn't, you achieve your goal or whatever a challenge or like something that happened to your loss, it can be a negative impact or it can be like that key, that drive, that spark of passion within you, that only you possess that's going to help you be the unsuppable force in your life because you're using it as fuel in a positive way.

And that's what for me sports was when I got into rowing. It was that healthy outlet. It was my way to process all this horrible stuff, but in a very positive way that I had no idea was gonna end me or bring me to this path in my life. But yeah, when you're just open-minded and just afraid to be a little leaf and flow with life and see where it takes you sometimes. Yeah, it is so true. I just did a solo episode, which I do every Friday, and it was on

the fact that I feel pain is the gateway to growth. And so it was all about that and why it's so true. And the more you put yourself into painful situations, the more you end up growing from them, whether it's in your career, your life, whatever. Well, I want to jump into some of your accomplishments, but I want to ask this first question through your identity of growing up in Ukraine. And that is your first winter game was in Sochi, Russia. And it was just after their invasion of Crimea,

just so the listeners can understand the backdrop. And I understand even then. What happened was with Olympic and Paralympic games, there is this true treaty, this whole thing that, during Olympic or Paralympics, there's no war, no politics, none of that is happening. And in this world, in all these countries, like it's this like agreed upon of that is happening. And in this world and all these countries, like it's this like agreed upon thing

that everyone respects. And then in 2014, right after the closing ceremony of the Olympics in Sochi, the Russian presence came and basically started in invasion. I won't say the first time, but this was multiple times that this invasions for Ukraine has happened. But the first time that we in America know that

we're a Crimea and then that Paralympics are and that's what I compete in, which Paralympics is also it's everyone thinks it's for paralyzed people, but it's not Paralympics is every four years, it's right after the Olympics as well. Paralympics means parallel or alongside too, so that means alongside with the Olympics. I didn't. As the opening ceremony for the Paralympics start, they stop putting, invading everything. And then Paralympic Games over, the full invasion starts literally at the closing ceremony, the minute the flag and all the flame goes down and then yeah, it was I was very well aware the first time and then 28, 2022

Well, I couldn't believe that when they announced you as an athlete. They announced you as an athlete born in the USR rather than Ukraine How did that make you feel? Well, it made my blood boil. That's the reason why I got that metal, I think, because I was not expected. I just started cross-country skiing and it made me so angry. They would say, Oksana Masters competing for Team USA from the former USR. And it made me so furious because I was born in Ukraine. I was Western Ukraine also. It's not that I was also born in line with that. And because like you said earlier, like my identity, am Ukrainian American.

I am so proud to be Ukrainian. And that is the power of the beauty of sports is you get to represent something more than just you, but it's where you're from, where your family's from, and every part of you in adoptees, and that means you're praying too. It was such a hard game there with every time.

But then I guess I should say thank you because they helped me get angry enough to just wanna show them how strong a Ukrainian is, not. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, though you got your start in rowing, get angry enough to just want to show them how strong a Ukrainian is not. Well, though you got your start in rowing, you currently compete in biathlon, cross-country skiing, and road cycling, how were you able to train for so many divergent sports? Coffee. That's probably what you did it to stay up about your own deployed and I was doing it to drink a lot of coffee to keep going. But I had no idea when I first started rowing and I went to London, I had no intention nor did I know half of the sport that I'm competing in now,

which is road cycling, cross-country skiing, byathlon. I had no idea that they were sports for the Paralympics at all and I can compete in them. I've never even heard of them. So I had no idea. So now it's a think back competing with all of it. What happened was, rowing was my first love. I love it. It's my first sport.

It's first sport I got into at the Paralympic level. And kind of what I got bad news, where I had an injury that took me out of that, and I refused to believe it. Instead of shutting down my doors for other opportunities to try, I stayed open, minded, and opportunities to try cross-country skiing and cycling came and I was like, okay, this is going to help me get into rowing once I'm fully recovered because I didn't want to believe that. My rowing career was going to be over and little did I know by me just being willing to walk through that

new door of sports on snow and on the road was going to lead me to like where I'm ultimately meant to be and I think I love rowing but that was really just my way to get me into sports and I now I'm where I love what I'm doing and the training is really challenging. It's literally 24-7 with like one day off in between and it's a collaboration with all of my coaches from the winter to the summer. And they know what the key races are and it's just having that communication. And also, John is really like, it's very humbling because I can come from like a really great Nordic season on snow. And then the

minute I get back onto my bike and on the road, I am a baby. It's like, I feel so out of shape. I've never worked out before. And it's about two months where you just feel like crap. And you're like, oh my gosh, why am I doing this? Never, like, I'm not fit for this, but that's what I love about the two, is that month to two months, where you're starting over. And I love that because it keeps me hungry,

and I'm not settled to just be at the top. I'm like here, but then I go back down and have to come back up. I love that uncertainty and unfamiliarity because I can then create this path and make every single day count. And it's a new opportunity to be a better athlete, better version of who I was last season. Well, I love it. And I'm a huge cyclist myself.

I'm. Nice. Unfortunately, I've been sick the past couple. I'm I'm fortunately been sick the past couple weeks. So I haven't been able to do it and it's absolutely killing me. Well, in Florida where it's warm you're saying it's like 80 degrees and so you can ride. I'm in Illinois

and it's like, oh my gosh, I'm not going out in this life. Yeah, I used to year round put in 250, 350 miles a week, but now I do a lot more spin classes. But speaking of cycling, I was talking to one of my best friends today. And I think his niece is a teammate of yours.

I was wondering if you know Samantha Bosco. Oh yeah, I do. That's a small world. Yeah, I happen to mention to him, I was interviewing you and he goes, I think she's a cyclist. I go, she is who goes, I ask her if she knows Samantha. I do.

Absolutely. Do you have a fun experience about the two of you that you guys shared? So because I'm doing both, I'm like cycling and skiing. I don't get to be part of the winter side where the training camps really happen. But Sam and I really connected and skiing. I don't get to be part of the the winter side where the training camps really happened, but Sam and I really connected and bonded her first games was in Rio in 2016 and

cycling that was the first time it was my third Paralympic games, but it was the first time I was competing in cycling and we Kind of felt a little bit not out of place, but just like, learn trying to find our own place in this new teen dynamic and the culture of sport and cycling. And so we just really connected a lot. And I remember playing a lot of like card games and Rummy in Rio and just hung out with her a lot. And yeah, actually, it's funny,

because that's so funny you saw that today because I have my phone came across and they do like the memories of random pictures. And it was a picture of me and her at the White House at the 2016 visit. And I was like, oh my gosh, but yeah, she's an incredible athlete. She's definitely a force and will be a force and the crazy thing actually speaking of Sam. So she had an accident going into the Tokyo games, a bike cycling accident and training and had a really bad injury and put her into ICU and she recovered but wasn't able to go to the Tokyo Paralympic Games for, wasn't cleared for health reasons. And my time trial suit, I was there in Tokyo. My time trial suit was not fitting me at all because

I'm a hand cyclist, Sam's a upright cyclist, like looks normal. And then I use my arms and a lot of times those suits are very not friendly for hand cyclists. So I actually ended up racing. The team gave me her custom time trial suit that she'd be racing on the track side. They had it. She wasn't there. And so I actually ended up wearing it on the first race, my first race, which was the time trial in Tokyo. I ended up winning gold. And it was really a bittersweet because she wasn't there to win her gold and with that race zoo that said Sam on the tag.

But it was, I felt like this was, she was a part of me with that race, helping me get there to achieve my dream. And I can't wait to watch her there when she's, was his parents in 24, was she's gonna definitely crush it there? Well what an awesome story I can't wait to share it with Tom. You remind me, it is a small world. You know who else you remind me of in some ways is Hillary's Swank and I don't know if you knew this about me, but before she did her breakout movie,

but we don't cry, she lived in a van with her mom. And she actually did that movie for like $3,000. And it just turned out to be a breakthrough. But talk about grit. I understand you've got some experience living in cars as well. I do going into so she actually my second Paralympic Games, the winter 2014 games. My mom supported me financially on this dream of sports and she gave me a lot of money to help me chase this dream to make it real.

But we also, but it had a little bit because I'm like, mom, I need a amount of money and just like became his argument. And then right before Sochi, we were left for Sochi, I misjudged the math. I guess I should have paid more attention when I was in school, really, because it didn't do me really good. And I thought I had it all set.

I didn't have the heart to tell my mom that I don't have enough money to pay for the last four few days of the Airbnb I was staying. And so I slept near a picked in the parking lot, picked the spot where there's a really bright lamp, because I was by myself, unlike Hillary, I didn't get my mom to be there with me. Like my teammates now, they find out and I'm like, why don't you say something and tell us, like we're done this, but absolutely embarrassing to be living out of a car and to say, like, well, I don't have the money to do this.

All while you're going and getting ready to compete for a team USA. And it's definitely, I learned my survival instincts. I feel like I wasn't that bad in a place because first of all, my car had a little DVD thing. So I just watched Reck non-stop on it based on where I grew up in Ukraine. I learned how to make a box of spinach

and food last a long time. And that's, it worked out. My finally, what I learned in Ukraine came in use. A lot of people don't realize that about my story. They just see this really perfect version of you and your highest moment. And this is what media and society shows out there now of all these incredible athletes,

but they don't show and share these stories of, you didn't just wake up one morning and then just always suddenly became a gold medalist and just exceeded everything you try. I didn't make my first Paralympic Games in 2008. I didn't make my first national team at all. Everyone thinks that when I try something I win and I was just crunching some numbers and in skiing it was my 25th race start that I won't finally won my first individual race on my own. And then for Biathlon, it was my 30th. And I think it's all a process. It's never going to happen on your timeline. Sometimes kind of like with Sam, like she was

expecting to go to these games and be this breakout and it was so unfortunate heart-breaking. But somehow is going to keep, like for her, it's going to give that next that fire and that fuel that she's going to have in Paris in 24. That's going to make her unstoppable. And I wanted to share that part of my story for these athletes that are getting in and or these are like people in work and wherever they want to go. It's, there's no perfect timeline as long as you just keep working towards what you want to achieve and your goals. That was a very long answer.

I'm so sorry. No, I'm glad you brought all that up because I just did a video and an article last week. I didn't put it out as a podcast, but I wrote it on effortless perfection because I think when you scroll social media and everything else, you see all these people and you conjure up this vision that this stuff is just happening and there's no work and it's just perfect.

And I think the story you just told, but then what happened to you just prior to the 2018 Winter Olympics and Korea are testimonies to you showing up as the true athlete you always had come to believe you were. And for the listener who doesn't know anything about it, your weeks away from going to Korea, this is gonna be your like breakout Olympics.

And you end up slipping on black ice. And if I have it by memory, you end up slipping on black ice and if I have it by memory you end up breaking your arm? Maelbo, yeah in the process of dislocating it I tore the ligaments and fractured the radius that side and my arm and it was oh my god and I'm like of course this would happen. The difference between this game and all the other games I went to because it was my fourth Paralympic games. And this was the first time though I was entering the games and going to be lining up in the start line believing in myself, actually believing I'm capable of being a gold medalist and I can achieve it. And that's something I doubted all my whole time as up until that moment because I was always that second best or third best but never

got gold at the Paralympic Games. And in 2017 at World Champs, everything started changing. And then in 2018, I get my first sponsors. And they're, I just freak out because I literally to go from living out of a car from one winter games to oversight and having sponsors, having that expectation and belief that on myself and from others that leaving I'm going to get the metal for team USA and then seeing the right ups of wallocks on a master's favorite to win and metal in all of her events and then have this thing where I shatter my elbow and the first few doctors say that I can't compete. It's over and my thought process was like, well, like I'm already, like how worse can it get? I'm already missing two legs above the knee, like what's another limb? Oh, technology's incredible.

I'm sure I'll find a way to get through. And I, so I, all those doctors that I couldn't raise, since this is all in the book, obviously, it ends up working well. And actually the book stops right at my first gold medal. And the way that I ended getting the gold medal is crazy because I end up re-enjuring the day before. And after the book stops where I get that first gold medal,

but there's the second day where I get another gold medal also and that isn't in there. But definitely refused to get this far to put in thousands of hours of training and more than thousands of hours in training, trained four years and finally be confident and believe myself. And I think that's the hardest thing. And I think honestly, for a long time, it was that one thing that was my downside and what was holding me back is not believing in myself. Everyone believed in me except myself that I was capable.

I wasn't going to let an elbow stop me from trying to line up on the start line. And it wasn't until like I didn't know until the game started until my first race if I would even be racing, if I could do it and if it would handle it. And I didn't care for me. I always believe in starting what I finish. And I knew I most likely wasn't going to go for gold with the situation with my elbow, but I wanted to see what I could achieve with my situation that I have now and am now.

And I started this and I'm gonna see it through. It's not about the result anymore. This was just for myself. And I had an incredible team that made it possible for me to get to that start line. Yeah, I mean, I can't do it without that team surrounding you. But I've heard you talk about that on many other shows. So I know how important that is to you. I did want to ask you have 17 medals. Wow, seven gold, seven silver, three bronze.

What do they mean to you? I don't know how to say this, but it's not bad, but the metal itself is just like a physical reminder of the work you're putting in and what you're doing and the team work around you. It's working. What means the most to me? it's not the metal count, it's not that. It was, that, and then my realized it was

when I finally won that gold medal and got to stand on top of the podium and it was bittersweet because I was up there on my own, but I was looking into the crowd, into my mom, into my team, into the doctors, into everyone who literally helped me be in this moment. And they're the ones who are not behind me on that podium with me, and I wish it was.

And it's so strange. And it was just looking at those people in the eyes while your anthem's playing. and just saying thank you, like to them and like I didn't get here by myself at all and it was just one of those things so hard to explain, it's so hard to put this feeling and emotion you have into words of what it means but it's the metals themselves is just, I feel it's for me at least. It's just a physical example.

It just says it's working. This teamwork is working. The work you're putting in is working. And it tells you what to do next. And, like I'm not a metal person, It makes me feel very uncomfortable talking about that that literally just the other day I needed to find them for something and I lost a couple and like, my God, where is it? And my mom was like, what do you mean you lost your metals? How do you not

know where they are? Because I don't, they're just not like underneath my closet, my clothes somewhere. But it's the memory that fuels me and it can be hard to sustain top performance. After all these years as an elite athlete, which is similar to a person trying to stay elite in their career. For you, does it get any easier to train and compete? No, no, it gets harder. I don't know what happens. It gets harder and harder. And I don't know if it's going to get older and the recovering slower. And I'm like, gosh, remember the recovery taken so long this time or those last time, but it doesn't get easier. If anything, it gets harder because as an athlete, like dissecting, you're fighting,

you're spending all these hours and all these years to gain half a percent, where if you're starting somewhere for the first time or some sport, you're gaining like 30%. But I love is just, and the sports that I do, especially in cycling or skiing, the thing that I'm chasing a lot the most is like that start line. But I love start lines. It's undetermined. Nothing's decided for you yet. And you get to create your own destiny and your own journey in that race. And then when it's done, you reflect, you take the parts you want to learn and keep, you throw away the stuff you never want to do again, and you get to do it again and line up and recreate that to the best version and best race that you can. But no, it doesn't, it gets harder and harder, but the love just

gets bigger and bigger every time. Well, I love that you just said that because last year I interviewed Nate Zinser. He it gets harder and harder, but the love just gets bigger and bigger every time. Well, I love that you just said that because last year I interviewed Nate Zinser. He studies and teaches the psychology of performance at West Point, but he was Eli Manning's Confidence Coach. He was the Confidence Coach for the driver of the Bob Sled who won the gold medal who you might know. Oh, yeah. But it's interesting. You actually folk. Yes, but it's interesting that you bring it up because I was a competitive runner in college and in high school and I love the starting line too.

But he brings up that one of the things he teaches these people and he's also worked with Kirby Puckett and NBA players is don't ever fixate on the negatives. Fixate on those times when you've had your best ultimate performance and that's where you should fixate your memory and you kind of teaches them to do it, which is kind of like what you just brought up because it is so hard to get through those pesky midpoints in your training or in your aspirations to get to the next level, but if you stick at it, that's where at the end it becomes glorious. Yeah, and I think it's important in those moments where you are hitting those ruts in your training or your races is have your why, like what is motivating you why you're getting up and why are you choosing to do this? And I mean, for me, like, going for Tokyo, I

relived that race where I got fourth and fifth and Rio, and I relived that emotion and that feeling. And this is where it's like kind of like contradicts what he says, like, don't live it in that negative side. But you don't, don't live in it, but then use those emotions as the extra fuel to ignite you to, like, keep going. And when you think of that why because remember that feeling you felt and then try to change it for me, at least maybe I need to talk to him because I know like what some of my downsides is sometimes I don't trust myself in the confidence aspect of it, but it's a fine line. You can use don't focus and dwell on the things that didn't go right, but also if it didn't go right, find why it didn't go right and find the wise in between because there's something to take from it. There's something to take from that bad race. There's something to take from that bad training day and to learn. And you're not failing if you know what you want

to change the next time. And then that turns into a positive because then it's not a bad race or a day because now you just gain that insight of, well, now I know what I'll do tomorrow or the next day. Well, my last question for you and I'm gonna put up this incredible book of yours one more time, is for a reader of the book or a listener of the podcast, what

is the biggest takeaway you would like someone to get from this book? Oh my gosh, I think I let so many parts of my experiences in my life, those hard moments, determine how I view myself in the mirror, determine, and the scars I come with, I let them write my own story. I let society write my story for me. I let my past experiences and my legs and define me

until I realize through sport, like sport, help me realize, give me this power, you always can rewrite your chapters. You can always rewrite your story. These hard moments, these hard parts that you're living in right now, or if you've experienced and those parts that you're stuck in, they are not your forever at all. It's gonna get better, it's gonna get easier. You are the author of your book and of your life and of your story. You can determine how you wake up the next morning and rewrite all these things you feel about yourself

or these experiences and just be used to help you get to your goals, get to your achieving your dreams. It doesn't have to be just the hard part, these bad parts, these bad experiences. Thank you so much for coming on the show. I know when you put your name into Google, and I know you're gonna, that GTS thing, I'm sure you've heard that phrase before.

Obviously, if you type your name into the computer, you come up everywhere, but if there is one point that you want the listener to go to, if they want to learn more about you, where would it be? Well, my website, oksanamastersusa.com. You can check out or I'm more of an Instagram girl, so definitely I'm just oksana Masters on Instagram. And if you're looking for something that in some one to follow that doesn't show just the pretty side of things, the bad days, the good days, how I put my legs on all these things and my journey. Yeah, but the landing page for the hard parts, you can go to Oksana Masters.com. Well, Oksana, thank you so much for being on the show.

And good luck. I know you're in the middle of training for your next round of the games. So best of luck there. And I hope you bring back even more hardware. Thank you so much, John. I appreciate it. Thank you for having me on the show. What an incredible interview that was with Oksana Masters.

And I wanted to thank Oksana Shribner and Hannah Clark for the privilege and honor of having her on the show today. Links to all things Oksana will be in the show notes at passionstruck.com. Please use our website links if you purchase any of the books from the guests that we feature on the show. It helps to support the show. Videos are on YouTube at both passionstruck clips

and genre miles. Advertiser deals and discount codes are in one community at PassionStrike.com slash deals. Please support those who support the show. I'm on LinkedIn and you can also find me at John Armiles on both Twitter and Instagram. And if you want to know how I book amazing guests like Oksana, it's because of my network.

Build those relationships before you need them. Most of the guests that you hear on the show actually subscribe to the podcast and contribute ideas for topics. Come join us, you'll be in smart company. You're about to hear a preview of the PassionStrike podcast interview I did with my special guest, Dr. Mark Heimann, a number one New York Times best-selling author, founder and director of the Ultra Wellness Center, senior advisor to the Cleveland Clinic for Functional Medicine, and host of one of the most popular health podcasts. And we discuss his brand new book, which coincidentally also released this today, titled, Young Forever,

A Secrets to Living Your Longest Healthiest Life. We can change those epigenetic marks on our DNA that read our genes. So at any age, we can change the epigenetic expression through what we call the expose home. The expose home is to some total of all the things that were exposed to in our life. And that's modifiable, and that's the good news. We can't change our genes, they're fixed

unless we do gene editing, but we can change our gene expression. And the biological aging phenomena is really a disordered gene expression. And that's the key to understanding the biological age and to influencing it through regulating all of the kind of doorways or the pathways we have to get to it. The fee for this show is that you share it with family or friends when you find something inspirational or useful. If you know someone who needs some inspiration is an Olympic fan or overall wants to learn

that anything is possible, then please share today's episode with them. The greatest compliment that you can give us is to share this show with those that you care about. In the meantime, do your best to apply what you hear on the show so that you can live what you listen. And until next time, live Life, Ash and Strut.