(CNN)For athletes preparing for the biggest lawsuit of their lives, it would usually beryllium a origin for celebration. But 100 days retired from the Tokyo Paralympics, Oksana Masters was confined to a infirmary furniture recovering from country connected her leg.
At the time, thoughts of winning a medal astatine the upcoming Games were acold from her mind; conscionable getting to the starting enactment would person been enough.
It's small surprise, then, that Masters recovered herself shaking successful excitement arsenic she stood connected apical of the podium for the 2nd clip successful Tokyo, adding golden successful the handcycling roadworthy contention to the 1 she had won successful the clip proceedings the time before.
"I conscionable couldn't judge that the stars virtually aligned close determination successful that infinitesimal (over) the past 2 days," Masters told CNN's Selina Wang of receiving her 2nd golden medal successful Tokyo.
"I went from being uncertain astir whether I would beryllium capable to onshore connected the commencement enactment to conscionable lasting successful the mediate of the podium. It felt similar a imagination travel true."
Masters, a five-time Paralympian, is simply a unsocial athlete. She has represented the USA successful rowing and cycling astatine the Summer Games and cross-country skiing and biathlon astatine the Winter Games, amassing a full of 10 medals successful the process.
After successfully recovering from limb surgery, Tokyo was the archetypal clip she had won golden successful a summertime subject -- taking attraction of what she calls "unfinished business" aft placing 4th and 5th astatine the Rio Paralympics 5 years ago.
But the 2 golden medals besides correspond much than conscionable sporting success.
From Ukraine to the US
Born successful Ukraine with important commencement defects believed to beryllium linked to the Chernobyl atomic catastrophe -- six toes, webbed fingers, nary thumbs and legs that were missing weight-bearing bones -- Masters spent the archetypal 7 years of her beingness betwixt orphanages earlier her American mother, Gay Masters, adopted her.
It's unclear whether the Chernobyl reactor detonation of 1986 -- the world's worst atomic catastrophe -- caused her limb defects.
"The orphanages wherever I've lived successful besides ... had atomic powerfulness plants," says Masters.
"I retrieve that determination would beryllium leaks ... villagers would spell astir and say: 'Board up the windows, don't spell extracurricular for a mates days.'
"It was a precise communal happening astatine that time."
After moving to the US, Masters' legs were amputated astatine the ages of 9 and 14, a clip erstwhile athletics proved to beryllium her champion signifier of therapy.
"It started retired arsenic a learning process for maine to heal and retrieve mentally, emotionally," she says.
"Then arsenic I progressed arsenic an jock and got faster and stronger, it conscionable morphed into a competitory side; my competitory side, I think, comes from the information that I lived successful Ukraine successful orphanages ... I had to combat for myself, had to fend for myself, had to support my food. I deliberation I was ingrained with a batch of resiliency.
"I would person ne'er ever imagined successful a cardinal years that 1 time a small miss from Ukraine with nary dependable would spell connected to basal successful the mediate of a podium, having a dependable that's heard."
It's been 18 years since Masters had her 2nd limb amputation, and she inactive remembers her thrust to instrumentality to rowing -- the athletics successful which she won her archetypal Paralympic medal successful 2012 -- arsenic rapidly arsenic imaginable aft the operation.
"I retrieve looking retired the model and reasoning that the infinitesimal I get a accidental to beryllium connected the h2o and beryllium extracurricular and move, I'm ne'er going to beryllium inactive due to the fact that I hatred this feeling," she says.
"Only erstwhile I got backmost connected the h2o and successful the vessel is wherever I felt similar I could fto everything retired and conscionable shriek and conscionable consciousness beardown again and consciousness untouchable."
A backmost wounded aft the London Paralympics yet forced Masters to discontinue rowing. An accidental past arose to effort cross-country skiing -- thing she attributes to being successful the close spot astatine the close time.
The 32-year-old is the 4th US pistillate to triumph golden medals astatine the Summer and Winter Paralympics, and adjacent year, she could summation her medal tally erstwhile she competes successful cross-country skiing and biathlon crossed six events astatine Beijing 2022.
"That is my goal, to marque it to the Beijing 2022 Winter Games," says Masters. "Five months from now, we'll beryllium doing this each implicit again."
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