Oksana Masters LEAVES Paralympics Speechless After THIS Happened!

paralympic Superstar Oxana Masters opens up on frustrating time following heartbreaking injury Oxana Master's life is nothing short of amazing as the most decorated Us winter par Olympian ever she's racked up an impressive 17 par Olympic medals across both the winter and summer games while she's known for her skills in parabia aplon and cross-country skiing during the winter her journey actually started with par roing where she won a bronze medal at the London 2012 games but Oxana Masters faced a back injury that changed her path ultimately she discovered her love for Paras cycling and really made a splash there too oana's story is truly inspiring growing up in a Ukrainian orphanage and then becoming a known figure for Team USA what a journey well Master story is widely recognized Among Us paralympic sports fans born in Ukraine she was affected by the Chernobyl disasters radiation leading to disabilities including tibial hemimelia at 8 she was adopted by gay masters from an orphanage by 14 oana Masters had both legs amputated above the knee and underwent surgeries to adapt her fingers into functioning thumbs but at that time she got support from her mom Masters reflects with olympics.com on three pivotal moments in her life when she felt truly saved adopted from Ukraine she credits her mother for saving her first by bringing her to the United States where doctors had once predicted she wouldn't live past 10 as she puts it my mom saved my life literally from Ukraine because they told her I wasn't supposed to live past 10 years old her mother played a crucial role Again by introducing her to the World of Sports which would become a transformative force in her life through Sports Masters discovered the path to self-love and acceptance realizing that this newfound passion had saved her in a profound way however Sports were not something Okana Masters ever saw herself pursuing the idea of becoming an athlete let alone a paralympian seemed impossible in her words and also I'm missing my legs how on Earth can I be an athlete but with her mother's encouragement she began par rowing at 13 shortly after her second leg amputation finding herself on the water Masters felt a sense of belonging and healing she had never experienced before sport became her therapy helping her heal mentally from the scars that weren't visible this Foundation of love for the sport rooted in healing rather than competition eventually led her to an extraordinary athletic career earning seven gold seven silver and three bronze medals across six Paro Olympic Games in three different sports as Masters prepares for her seventh Paralympics in Paris 2024 a hint of apprehension still lingers beneath her determination Okana Masters gears up for the Third paralympic Paras cycling challenge in Paris Okana Masters is set to make her Mark for the third time in Paras cycling competing in the H5 hand cycling category she'll tackle both the H4 to5 women's time trial and the H5 women's Road Race excitement bubbles up for the US Star as she prepares to race in front of passionate fans in a country renowned for its cycling culture France home to the prestigious tour to France is a place where cycling is more than a sport it's a way of life beyond the racing circuit Masters expanded her Horizons by becoming a published author last year her Memoir released in February 2023 played a significant role in her healing Journey offering a fresh perspective she's eager to share Masters reflected just live in the moment and see each day and take the things that went well focus on the things you want to improve and do not limit yourself and never count yourself out it's all about turning life's lemons into lemonade and making the most of every challenge after Tara Davis Woodhall won her first Olympic medal at the Paris Olympics gold no less in the long jump the world watched as she dashed over to the stands to her husband Hunter and the two shared an absolutely electric moment of excitement the whole world got to see how much he supports me Davis wood Hall said in a video interview after the competition that's just Hunter and I I feel like the moment with your husband has just like gone so viral I haven't even been on social media that much so I don't know how viral gone and everyone's been telling me the whole world but been seeing it and um you know that's just Hunter and I and um you know as much as a husband he is he's my biggest supporter and um I guess the whole world got to see how much he supports me though their celebratory Embrace circulated endlessly on social media it only scratched the surface of how sweet this couple's story really is now that Hunter a decorated runner in his own right is set to compete in the Paro Olympic games which kick off on August 28th we brushed up on their backstory Hunter was born in 1999 in Georgia with fibular hemimelia the shortening of or lack of the fibula bone in the legs when he was just 11 months old his parents chose to have his legs amputated below the knee and he grew up using Prosthetics something that didn't stop him from playing with his brothers riding a bike and participating in sports where he excelled in track and field when he was just 16 he competed in the Paro Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and took a silver medal in the 200 M t44 and a bronze in the 400 m t44 they said I'd never walk so I learned to run instead reads the tagline on his Instagram account during his senior year of high school Sparks flew between wood Hall and Californian Tara Davis at a track meet in Idaho according to a YouTube video The Duo made just let that sink in for a second okay this is a Monumental time in our lives anyways February 16th we were in s plot games in Idaho I came from California I came from Utah we both drove I flew this time oh yes you flew you're right but then I had to land in somewhere in Utah and then had to drive I think I don't remember in Boise anyways doesn't matter so we both get to the track meet in Idaho it's called the Simplot games is amazing and the crazy thing was I wasn't going to go to this meet like we had a dance that weekend at school and I really am not an indoor track person so I was like you know what I don't really need to be there there and then my buddies convinced me to go so I ended up you know going to the meet I saw him warming up for the 400 I was warming up for hurdles and I just like saw him and I was like o who's that at the time I didn't know he didn't have legs I was wearing pants yeah he's wearing some sweats he was doing some some of these you're doing that yeah that's good I kind of just like stared at him for a little bit and I was like he well this is awkward before this our shoes taking a picture and my best friend's in the background and that is the best friend that I told cuz we were watching her race the hurdles before in the 400 and I was like damn that girl is fine I'm going to marry that girl and there's also a text that I I sent to Tucker who's my one of my best friends I said this is a girl I'm going to marry and then then the next day was the 400 and that this story The 400 was up and I watched him run he like finished the race and like after everyone finished the race they like come off the side of the track and like I was like standing there waiting for him and I just kind of like gave him a hug he I didn't really like realize that I gave him a hug he was kind of just like in his own little world like puffing and puffing to be fair I just ran a 400 okay and I got off the track and I was dying and she just walks up she's like I just need a hug I was like I just want hug and I hugged her and I went back to my best friend Tucker that I was telling you out and I said D tar Davis just walked up to me and hugged me and he's like dude you're lying no she didn't and yes and we talked about it for a while I guess that that's really how we met and that was kind of it for talking I I came up to her later at like the award St when I was getting my medal for the forer and she was getting medals for long jump and hurdles and I like I don't know we had a small conversation like really brief like nothing crazy and then afterwards I told my mom I was like oh my God Mom this guy is so cute blah blah blah what happened and then I told her I was like oh my God like right after that I was like oh my God I just talked to Hunter she's like who's Hunter I was like the guy with no legs mom my legs the guy with no legs that's how I was she oh and then I kept thinking I was like dang I want to see this girl so I started walking around Sim plot this big Stadium to try to see if I could find her and I found her but she was with her parents and her grandparents so I got scared scared so I just walked away I was going to go say what's up and I got scared so I walked away and that was kind of it that's all we talked about really and then we got home this is just hitting on the fact that if you're a girl and you like a guy you can make the first move just har made all the moves I made the first move I went up to and hugged him and the second move and then we follow each other on Instagram and Twitter so the first time I dm'd you I think it was that one night where like you were up yeah so he was up tweeting on some like weird mumbo jumbo type stuff whatever and I was like why are you up it was like 11:00 okay it wasn't that late I don't stay up that late I was like why are you up and he's like I was just waiting for you to respond or something like that I'll see if I can go find the DM it was a year it was over a year ago I was like oh year and half had some moves I mean and then we just like had like a little short conversation he's like well I got to go to bed good night I was like okay cool she's L into my DMs it's been a little bit of game I had to bounce I was like all right bet that's how I see how it is I think the next day I got your number and then we texted and snapchated a little bit and then a few months down the road like we didn't talk for that long though no we really didn't and a few months down the road we would like talk here and there and then we like hung out at Arcadia yeah okay okay so Arcadia this is like when we like started talking like nonstop yeah every day all the time so in April yeah we were talking all the time we hung out there um I invited him to this party we all went to a party where a bunch of noobs were it was not comfortable with at the time I was comfortable with you were not comfortable I had three friends with me who were not comfortable with the party so we left I said we left okay we were there for like 20 minutes maybe I said this is a great time T I got to bounce and I was like so butt hurt and I was at the time one of my best friends was there he came to my track meet and I think Hunter thought that like we were dating I most definitely thought they were dating and we weren't they we were just like I like dang I got to played cuz we we've been talking like all the time like every day and I was like dang but he did at Christian if you're watching this Christian shout out to you bro he asked me for my autograph yeah Christian I was like sure bro why not June we go to June until June yeah we we go to June cuz our whole entire relationship has been distance practically um so in June is when I was back in uh California San Diego training at the Olympic Training Center and Tara here he goes again Tara at 6: a.m. woke up and drove 2 and 1 half hours to see me in San Diego and we hung out we had a great time that's when we had our first kiss first kiss First Dates all all that kind of stuff in Coronado we went to coron he watched her compete in hurdles and sent his friend a prophetic text this is the girl I'm going to marry the next day Davis watched wood Hall run his race he won and worked up the courage to ask him for a hug an adorable foreshadow of their viral Olympic moment in Paris wood Hall immediately reported to the same friend he'd texted before Tara Davis just walked up to me and hugged me later at the awards ceremony the two shared small talk and Davis remembers telling her mom about the cute guy she had met after going back to their respective homes the pair started chatting over social media and the romance took off wood hall went on to earn a division one scholarship to run for the University of Arkansas becoming the first double amputee to ever do so meanwhile Davis spent her freshman year at the University of Georgia and then transferred to the University of Texas the couple continued their relationship during this time and both competed in the Tokyo Olympics where Davis came in sixth in long jump and wood Hall took home a bronze in the 400 met t62 in 2021 wood Hall proposed and the pair got married in McKinley Texas in 20122 and now live in fville Arkansas they document their lives everything from how they met to their wedding to the morning after Davis wood Hall's win in Paris on their popular YouTube channel following his wife's success in Paris wood Hall is gearing up for his own events he'll be competing in two events the 100 met t64 with the qualifying round on September 1 and the final round the day after and the 400 met t62 for which the qualifying round is on September 5th and the final on September 6th you're actually jumping very longer are you not afraid to be out of shape for the tri Olympics no I would I because you're you're doing very well actually yes um Peak season's not here yet so um we are still you know very very heavy in the weight room a lot of sprinting a lot of you know um junks and stuff on my body so I think once we get down to Olympic tiles and the Olympics I think uh it's something really big good to hear and can you tell us with the yes or or no if you ever jumped over 7:30 in the practice I fleed the fif for trials what's the mindset headed into it the Monch about still go out their house fun um I think right now we're still cleaning up that approach and cleaning up the takeoff quick last step and um you know I'm moving back slowly but surely I moved back a foot today so that means four speeds coming down the runway even into the headwood tell me about that energy from the New York crowd the New York crowd is like it's like Europe I want them to travel with me all the time like that was insane makes me feel really good about track and see where track's going in the right direction kids wouldn't let you go get past no but that's beautiful I love it and I I was that kid too posted a video on Instagram recently of a FaceTime with your nieces talk to us about like that support that you receive and how it's so inspiring yeah my family supports me like no other my nieces are so young I don't know if they really understand what's going on but um I think at the same time if they do they know Auntie's like she runs track and she's really really good that's uh that's all I can ask for is that they can just you know watch me run watch me jump and um just be in the moment with me Tara do you prep for like um PR for like a big peak for Olympic trials or is it like a little Peak and then you go towards Paris I think it would just be a little Peak and then I'll do Paris I mean coach has everything you know scheduled out just perfectly and um you know regressions are going to start coming and I'm so excited for practice to be so low key and chill we're still running fast we're still running so much I'm so tired of running you're tired of running as a I hate running I hate running so much when we have 120s on the menu I'm like please no no what happened to like the hurdles I know that was a little kind of thing you were yeah so hurdles is still a thing I love hurdling um you know I had strained my hamstring back in college and that's why I kind of stopped hurdling so getting back into hurdles my hamstring was just a little bit not really messing with that a little bit and so I think I need more you know time to get you know worked up into the hurdles and whatnot to run wood Hall uses blades curved prosthetic lower limbs made of carbon fiber blades are light and springy and F favored by Runners for their technology when the foot hits the ground the blade compresses storing potential energy then it rebounds pushing the runner forward using nearly all of the energy generated by The Stride by any measure wood Hall runs fast he can finish the 400 m in 46.9 seconds for comparison the world record for the 400 m for any Runner is 43.3 seconds so we'll be cheering for wood Hall to Chas down a gold as he recently posted I will not be participating at the Paralympics I will be competing putting a new definition on disability and we'll be keeping our eye out for Tara in the stands in her signature cowboy hat and we can only hope for another Victory celebration from this Powerhouse of a couple what was the question the question was what was like in Tokyo when it was it was awful it was awful I I did not like that I mean it was uh a mental type of competition because there's no one watching and it's my first Olympics there and I was like what the heck this is weird but I'm glad that's over and I'm glad I'm going to Paris to actually experience an Olympics and how do you engage the crowd because I feel like you are one of the athletes who really is able to tap into the crowd's energy and they love it seems like a symbiotic thing I just um I was a cheerleader at one point in my life and I just knew how to crowd lead and um getting the crowd involved means they're watching and that's one of my biggest goals in my entire life and I've always said it since I was probably in eighth grade I was like what do you want to do in this world of track and field I was like I want to change the game of long jum and I have said that asked my parents from that day and from that day on I've been changing that game of long jump for sure the reaction to it so if you don't know I F two jumps and it was honestly one of the scariest moments of of my career but I did not let that get to my head I had to stay focused I had to stay present and um I just allowed myself to you know embrace it and you know whatever happens happens after that and I went back I moved back half the shoe and I was like okay let's go and um I took it with ease I did not push very hard I just wanted to get on the board and get I didn't even want to get on the board honestly I just hoped I'd get on the back of the board and um you know I ended up getting on the board dead center 667 or something like that 664 yeah Co I haven't jumped like that in a very long time but at least it got me in the finals and um I had to work my way up from there there was a lot of emotions I already logged online to freaking Twitter which is the worst idea ever they're like oh hope that pressure doesn't get to hurt I had no pressure I have just never been this fast in my entire life coach was out there he's like T I have never seen this fast so it's like I am still working on perfecting my craft I am not at the perfect Peak right now my Peak is not for now it's for in a month so dealing with that stuff trying to get that Rhythm back trying to be on my own Zone be in my own world and um now we're going to go back to practice and do me after that kind of like tumultuous first few jumps making sure you had those three extra jumps and then jumping seven does that kind of give you confidence that no matter what happens in Paris you're going to be able to like yeah yeah no I definitely I don't think I'm ever going to have a competition like that ever again I think I think a lot of so a couple days ago I told myself I told this I have some bumps and bruises I'm almost positive I have a heel fracture and um you look every time I got out the pit I was limping and I was trying so hard not to lip and so we're dealing with that and this was my first competition I did it at New York City Grand Prix and now um that guy's going to go post oh that's um this is my first competition back that I was um dealing with this and I ended up changing spikes like the spikes that I was wearing today I have not worn all competition because the spikes I was wearing before had a carbon fiber plate and that was hurting every time I jumped and um yeah there was just a lot of things going on in this competition that no one knows about and I'm just so thankful that I got to number one in Atlanta you also had some you know foul issues or you know back and forth did that experience help you here a little bit I mean probably I have no idea I don't think about the last competitions I'm just thinking about what I have in front of me and what I had in front of me was I was going to fast to back up and um now when we go back to practice I will start at 125 I was starting at 124 before so now I have to go start at 125 or 125.5 and um it's it's now it's the smallest minute details in perfecting this crap you think about the if they're talking about future competitions where they get rid of the board and measure from wherever you take we're talking about Paris well just sorry we just curious cuz I did ask you in Atlanta about Michael Johnson's League since then there's been more we're talking about Paris guys yes look at my boots look things these are jovas and then I reached out to Crystal coated on um Instagram and she did this and they are absolutely stunning and are you new ones for Paris like what are the looks going to be girl I just got to Paris so now I'm you know going to S all this moment in and you know just be in this moment and go have a few drinks Chara was there anything specific that you were saying to yourself after those those first two Js to get you ready for that third one I can't remember fully but I think I said I'm the queen of the castle and I was like you got this you got this I'm the queen of this Castle you can do it Martha Watson I saw her on uh Friday night and she was like she's a long jumper and she was like when every time I stepped on that Runway I said I was the queen of the castle and I was like you know what I'm going do that as well and so I said that and I told myself to breathe in what do I say breathe in confidence exhale fear and that's what I did and um now we're here