Meet a select group of Paralympians competing in the Summer and Winter Games

WASHINGTON — Oksana Masters, America’s most decorated Winter Paralympic athlete, is part of a select group of multi-sport athletes who have competed in both the Summer and Winter Paralympics, having to master different skills to succeed in different disciplines every two years.

In the past two decades, about 120 athletes have participated in the Summer and Winter Paralympics, according to the International Paralympic Committee.

Masters, a double amputee, has competed in every Paralympic Games since 2012, earning medals in Para cross country and Para biathlon in the winter and Para cycling and Para rowing in the summer.

“Trying to peak in the summer and winter of the year is the most difficult thing to try and perfect, as well as a higher risk of overuse injuries because there is no real offseason,” Masters told The Associated Press. “Mentally, it’s really challenging and physically, especially in the first few months of transitioning back to where I can go from peak season which is great for me and skiing and when I switch to cycling in the summer, it’s a very different muscle group, a different machine, a very different way of pushing my body forward.”

Masters said “it was hard not to panic because it felt like you were starting a sport for the first time even though you were coming off a strong season and were in shape for something completely different.”

“It really rebuilds your body every six months or so,” Masters says. “It may also be something that is challenging, but keeps me hungry and continuing to learn new things about what I am capable of achieving in my approach to the sport.”

Masters enters his eighth Paralympics after winning 14 medals at the Winter Olympics (five gold) and five medals at the Summer Olympics (four gold). Masters became the first American to win seven medals — in seven events — at a single Paralympics in Beijing 2022.

The 36-year-old Masters was born in Ukraine with a birth defect believed to be linked to the Chernobyl nuclear accident. He had to attend an orphanage at an early age in Ukraine before being adopted by an American father. His left leg was amputated at the age of 9, and his right leg was amputated at the age of 14.

Masters began his Paralympic career in Para rowing at London 2012, and two years later switched to snow to compete in Para Nordic skiing at Sochi 2014. Two years later he also competed in Para cycling at Rio 2016.

Masters noted the financial difficulties of competing in both seasons, especially in a sport that requires specialized equipment. He said a hand bike can cost between 20,000 to 50,000 euros ($23,600 to $59,000), while a sit ski for Para cross-country skiing can range from 8,000 to 30,000 euros ($9,400 to $35,400).

“It was honestly very challenging to financially support my trips to the Summer and Winter Olympics because instead of four years separating them, I had to do it every other year,” he said. “I often wonder if it would be so much easier if I were just a swimmer whose financial costs would be more modest and traditional for training, coaching and traveling to races.”

Masters said he is lucky to have a partner now, but he is starting to “chase this dream of living out of my car.”

“Unfortunately, I still have to pay out of my own pocket and fund my own way to compete in the Summer and Winter Olympics because there is still little difference between Paralympians and Olympians, and currently both sports are very expensive,” he said.

Some of the most successful multi-sport athletes in history include Heinz Frei, a wheelchair racer from Switzerland who first competed in the Winter Paralympics in 1984 and finished his career at Tokyo 2020. Frei, who was paralyzed after an accident in 1978, won more than 30 medals in all editions, including 15 gold medals.

Germany’s Reinhild Möller won more than 20 medals while competing in Para athletics and Para alpine skiing from 1980 to 2006.

Candace Cable became the first American woman to win a medal at both the Summer and Winter Paralympics in 1992. She went on to win 12 medals in Para track and field, Para alpine skiing, and Para Nordic skiing until 2006.

Here are some other Para athletes who will also compete at Milan Cortina:

Oksana’s fiancé, Aaron Pike, is an American wheelchair racer, biathlete and Para cross-country skier who will be chasing his first medal in his eighth appearance at the Paralympics. He has won two individual world titles in the Para biathlon and one in the Para cross-country ski mixed relay since Beijing 2022. Pike finished 54th in the men’s wheelchair marathon at Paris 2024.

“I can come out of the winter and be in the race seat and feel strong in four weeks,” he told IPC. “I attribute this to the fact that I have been racing wheelchairs for about 12 years. Without a long history in racing chairs, it would not have been possible. And fortunately, the two are very compatible.”

Gretsch is a triathlete, biathlete, and Para cross-country skier who in 2018 Pyeongchang became the first American to win a biathlon medal at the Olympics or Paralympics. Gretsch won gold in the Para triathlon at Tokyo 2020, becoming the fifth American — and third American woman — to win gold at both the Summer and Winter Paralympics. He added three more medals at Beijing 2022, and another at Paris 2024.

“Each competition is a new challenge, but each competition prepares you for the next. It’s about finding strength in transition,” he told Olympics.com.

The 54-year-old German who will compete in Para biathlon and Para skiing will make his ninth appearance at the Paralympics. He began his Paralympic career at Beijing 2008, winning seven gold medals at the Summer and Winter Olympics in Para cycling and Para Biathlon.

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