From Chernobyl to World Champion | Oksana Masters

Oksana Masters (0:00)

I was born in Ukraine, and it wasn't until I got to America, I went to my first dentist, and they saw radiation in my teeth. And that's when they were like, this is most likely Chernobyl that caused all this.

Michael Gervais (0:10)

What if I told you that one of the most dominant athletes of our time began her life in unimaginable hardship, and then rewrote her story chapter by chapter?

Oksana Masters (0:20)

Society determines people with disabilities. I'm invisible. My story's been written for me, as a girl with a disability, as an orphan, as a female in sports. I wanted to rewrite my own story.

Michael Gervais (0:31)

Welcome back, or welcome to the Finding Mastery podcast, where we dive into the minds of the world's greatest thinkers and doers. I'm your host, Dr. Michael Gervais, by trade and training a high-performance psychologist. Now, the idea behind these conversations is simple, to sit with the extraordinary, to really learn how they work from the inside out. Today, we're doing just that by bringing back another unforgettable conversation from the Finding Mastery vault with the incredible Oksana Masters.

Oksana Masters (0:57)

When you think of an athlete like Serena Williams, or Michael Jordan, the first thing that pops into 90 percent of people's minds, is what they've achieved and the greatest of all time. But when you think of a Paralympian, oh well, what happened to your body? Where did you come from? Where you come from, it's important, it's shaped you, but it's not your identity of who you are.

Michael Gervais (1:16)

Oksana is a multi-sport Paralympic gold medalist, one of the most decorated Paralympians in US history. Oksana's journey, it's a masterclass in what it means to reclaim agency in a life that offered her none. I want to give a disclaimer here. This episode deals with some pretty heavy subjects around abuse, and they could be triggering for you. I'm encouraging you now to use your best judgment. I personally found this conversation to be incredibly meaningful and wonderfully healing.

Oksana Masters (1:43)

It's going to sound so weird, but I'm so thankful for what I experienced and what I went through, because I now know nothing's going to get as bad as that, first of all, and now what I'm doing here, I'm in complete control and can have the option to choose how I want to approach this.

Michael Gervais (1:57)

We're re-releasing this episode now, because her message about how she worked with her experiences to live with the sense of freedom and power, it feels just as relevant, if not more so, today. So with that, let's jump right into this week's conversation from the Finding Mastery Vault with Oksana Masters.

Oksana, I am so excited to sit with you and have this conversation. I read your book, and I couldn't put it down. It was overwhelming in parts, and inspiring in equal ways. And I'm just, I'm in awe on how you've navigated your life. And you are literally, to me, a living emblem of how to deal with shit. Like, in some cases, like, your mom is an absolute badass. You are badass. Like, how you've organized your inner life is incredible. The deep insight you have on how to deal with... I don't want to say, let's call it what it is. Like, for me, it's dark. Like, some of the human behaviors that you've been through have been dark. And, you know, we all have our own...

unique dark parts of our life. Our own scars, our own battle wounds. And, um, you have written a story that's remarkable. And you've faced some incredible things and then squared up with them. And you also have this sense of peace in your life. You're a kick-ass athlete and a complete human in the sense that you're amazing. And so, I just want to start by saying that. So, thank you.

Oksana Masters (3:42)

Thank you. Um, first of all, you're way too kind. You're way too kind. I'm just a person. Just a girl with no legs, really. But thank you so, so much. I'm so excited.

Michael Gervais (3:52)

I'm just a girl with no legs.

SPEAKER_3 (3:54)

Yeah, I'm just a girl.

Oksana Masters (3:55)

You know, I'm sometimes I'm 5'8, sometimes 4 Sometimes just curl up and ball.

Michael Gervais (4:00)

You are too funny. Okay. What do I need to know about you to understand you?

Oksana Masters (4:05)

Oh, man, I honestly, I don't know. I'm a really boring person, to be honest. There's really, I think I'm one of those people. I think a lot of people are like, Oh, you're so bubbly. You're so positive. And I was never just right away, always positive and bubbly and loved myself and had this outlook in life. And I found just like how to find, laugh at myself and make fun and light of situations when I'm uncomfortable. So I just laugh for no reason sometimes.