WEBVTT - Inspiring While Perspiring 0:00:02.600 --> 0:00:06.000 Hey there, folks. Sure, Michael Phelps has a bunch of 0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:10.960 Olympic medals, but he only got his for swimming, so 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:14.640 we ain't impressed because our guest today has medals in 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:20.480 several different disciplines and in summer and winter games. So 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:24.680 take that, Phelps. Welcome everybody into this episode of Aby 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:28.280 and TJ Roapes. This is I'm excited. Our guest today 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:30.840 is someone I want more people to. 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:35.640 Know exactly, Oksana Masters. She is the most decorated winter 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:39.280 para Olympian of all time. And it's funny you mentioned 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:42.080 Phelps because I was looking up the many articles that 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:44.600 have been written about her and they said she dominates 0:00:44.640 --> 0:00:48.760 sports to a Phelpsian degree. That is exactly how they 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:52.400 described her, because yes, she's a multi sport athlete. You 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:56.080 don't see that when you look up Olympic athletes this level. No, no, 0:00:56.880 --> 0:00:59.240 because you have to be focused singularly on what you 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:02.760 do and do it best, you know better than everyone else. Correct, 0:01:02.800 --> 0:01:06.319 But no, she has multiple sports and I love summer 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:07.480 and winter Olympics. 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:08.080 Are you kidding me? 0:01:08.160 --> 0:01:08.520 Right now? 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:10.000 How do you do that? 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:15.440 And if you're not impressed enough already, Just before we 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:18.880 came on to record this episode. We were just chatting 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:22.559 with her before we bring her in, and she told 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:26.200 us she just went for a ride, a recovery ride 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:28.480 for an hour and forty five minutes. 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:31.039 Just an easy just an easy bike ride, an hour 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:34.080 and forty five minutes. That's basically the equivalent of running 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:37.959 a half marathon. Yes, well for us, for us, for Olympians, 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:38.520 not so much. 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:41.920 But for us, let's please say hello to Aksana Master's 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:45.880 dear lady, thank you so so much for being here 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:48.520 and explain to people like you explained to us, why 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:52.200 isn't an hour and forty five minutes cycling for you 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:56.560 just a cool down, a recovery ride. Explain that. 0:01:58.120 --> 0:01:59.800 Well. First of all, thank you guys so much for 0:01:59.840 --> 0:02:04.840 the like the extremely generous behind intro. Oh my gosh, 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:09.120 I have never been compared to like, oh Phelps cnsque 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:13.760 like comparison at all. That was so funny. Also, you 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:17.520 guys are runners, like you guys run, I have three 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:21.320 wheels and gears and stuff like that. A big difference 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:24.720 doing an hour forty five cool down to running for 0:02:24.760 --> 0:02:28.520 an hour and forty five for sure, But because it's 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:31.959 an hour forty five cool down, my races can vary, 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:36.160 like the time trial is between it can be like 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:39.280 a five mile race to about a fifteen sixteen mile 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:42.480 race all out you and the clock, no drafting, but 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:45.840 a road race and pack racing like the one coming 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:52.840 up in Paris is seventy seventy one kilometers long, so 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:54.600 it's like it's and it's gonna take a while. So 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:57.840 it's like just about double of the marathon. So because 0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:01.000 we'll be racing for three hours on the bike, it's 0:03:01.040 --> 0:03:03.360 just putting in that sweat equity in that time. 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:05.640 Yes, that's a lot of endurance that you have to 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:11.760 prepare for. So we mentioned you have competed in para rowing, 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:17.280 para biathlon, Paris, Nordic skiing, paras cycling. 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:19.320 I can't even keep it straight. 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:22.400 And you've been competing in the Paralympics since twenty twelve. 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:27.320 What are you What are the specific events or I 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:30.280 should even say sports that you're competing in for the 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:31.680 Paris Paralympics. 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:35.760 For the Paris Paralympics, I'm getting old. It's just cycling. 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:39.520 I'm sticking to two events only and doing that and 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:41.960 in cycling the road events, so the time trial and 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:45.800 the road race, and yeah, and then in two years 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:47.920 from now is the Milong twenty twenty six Games, So 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:50.119 I'd be lying if I'm not training for Paris going 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:53.200 into it with literally I already checked out the gym 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:55.560 and the minute my events start, I'm going to transition 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:59.880 to the winter side of cross country skiing. But yeah, 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:01.920 it's just those two events, and it's going to be 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:06.240 It's going to be, honestly really challenging because in the 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:10.120 US cycling is such an underrepresented sports and the resources 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:14.280 for it isn't as equal as my European competitors, where 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:20.880 endurance sports and cycling is the Olympic level of their team, 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:24.200 they put the same resources and investments in as to 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:27.640 their paracycling team too. So it's going to be really 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:31.760 interesting but fun, and I'm hoping to put cycling more 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:34.920 on a map for the US, especially for la coming up. 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:37.520 You know, why isn't it there yet? Why is the 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:40.799 European Why are the European countries so better or making 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:43.200 more of an investment and has it been getting better 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:45.200 over the years that we still got a long way 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:45.599 to go here? 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:48.760 Oh, in the US, I mean, it's gotten so much 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:53.520 better for para sport in general, there's still so much 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:58.159 that can be done, and it's very easy, simple things 0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:01.159 like you guys allot to share my journey in my 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:05.240 sports with you and letting the world hear that because 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:07.400 that's something that we can get better on and hear 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:10.800 more stories of incredible Paralympic athletes that I have a 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:14.920 lot of teammates who are gold medalists and our world 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:18.240 record holders, but you don't hear it because it's not 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:24.559 the culture within our country for endurance sports besides the marathon. Really, 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:31.120 but like the viewership is getting so much better. The 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:34.480 sponsorship opportunities are so much better for para sports than 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:38.400 it was in twenty twelve when I was an athlete. 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:42.120 But in Europe in general, like cycling is just a 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:45.520 way of life, and endurance sports in general are just more. 0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:50.720 Like it's so cool racing in Europe because in cycling, 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:53.719 when you're a world champion, you get the rainbow stripe jerseys. 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:56.240 In the US, if I'm out writing or walk in 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:59.120 or something with my rainbow stripe jersey here, no one 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:03.640 understands what that is. We were at a hotel and 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:08.760 Belgium and just this regular old couple were like they 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:12.920 see the Jersey and they're saying something in and they're 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:18.159 in whatever language that they were speaking in, and they're like, oh, champion, champion, 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:21.440 because they recognized because it was so universal. 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:25.240 Axana, you should walk around with your seventeen Olympic Paralympic 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:28.120 medals and then they would know you you have seven gold, 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:31.440 seven silver, and three bronze. I bet you'd get some attention. 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:36.200 I don't know about that. I just want to help 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:41.000 inspire the next generation of young girls, specifically to see 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:44.400 all the different sports and to not limit yourself to 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:46.640 try just one from a young age. Try them all 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:50.000 until you find that one that you love, one that 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:52.719 means yeah. And if that means you have like seventeen 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:54.000 medals along the way, then. 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:57.040 Which one is your favorite event? 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:02.160 Oh that's so tough because it's like which one's your 0:07:02.200 --> 0:07:03.040 favorite child. 0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:06.040 My mom could tell you which one's your favorite child. 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:06.720 It's not. 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:09.520 He's like, it's me. 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:12.080 She knows me already. 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:16.520 Yeah, I would say probably rowing to be honest, it's 0:07:16.560 --> 0:07:19.800 the one I don't compete in now, but it's that sport. 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:24.280 It's it's like that first one, my first games. A 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:26.680 lot of people don't know. I tried to actually make 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:28.480 the Paralympic team in two thousand and eight when I 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:31.440 found out about the Paralympics and I didn't make it 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:34.760 in rowing. In that and it was that moment where 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:38.280 I did not make that team in rowing is when 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:41.200 I realized how badly I really wanted this and how 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:44.200 much more it meant to me than just representing Team 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:48.320 USA and going to the Paralympics. But you have also 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:53.240 better to handlines in rowing than cycling. No handlines. You 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:55.120 just look deathly pale. 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:57.560 That's so funny. I love that. I love that you 0:07:57.600 --> 0:07:58.760 even went there. That's great. 0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:01.320 You know, I want to bring people up on your story. 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:04.040 It is you say you want to be an inspiration. 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:06.480 I mean, you just read the first few sentences of 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:09.680 what your early childhood was like, and it's it's mind 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:12.400 blowing that you are where you are and you're doing 0:08:12.400 --> 0:08:16.560 what you're doing. You were born in Ukraine and you 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:19.120 were born with multiple congenital disabilities. 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:21.400 Correct. Can you tell us a little bit about that. 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:25.560 Yeah, So it wasn't actually until I was adopted. When 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:28.680 I was almost eight, went to my first dentist in 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:32.520 America where they took X ray's my teeth and they 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:36.920 saw radiation signs of radiation in my adult teeth, and 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:40.840 so linking it to where I was and the path 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:44.320 of Chernobyl and the nuclear power plant leak that went 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:46.679 off there, even though it was two years prior from 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:52.120 when I was born or three years wow, like the 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:56.720 radiation levels rise even higher throughout the years, even more 0:08:56.760 --> 0:09:00.920 so than what it was the first explosion of it. Also, 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:03.880 my village where I lived in one of the orphanages, 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:07.880 had an active nuclear power plant that would also leak frequently, 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:12.600 and so when I it was Yeah, so they just 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:17.240 concluded because of my birth, defects were everywhere. There were 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:21.000 my teeth, my organs, my hands. I don't have a 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:24.479 bicep on my right side, so if I'm not focusing, 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:27.400 I felt weird veer off to the left because I's 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:29.760 not just have to have that much more focus on 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:37.880 it and in utero deformities or BRIT's effects. It's the 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:41.320 only reason, how what that explains for all of my 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:45.360 body having a little bit of an impact in the 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:50.679 developing stages, where if it was just like oftentimes it's 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:53.199 other one side of the body that has an impairment 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:58.000 like a left and a right or it's very specific limbs. 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:02.400 But to have organs and to have enamel stripped from 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:05.120 my teeth when inside, like that's the only thing I 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:08.880 can do it before birth is radiation. And I'm just 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:11.120 so bombed because when I found out about how I 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:15.600 got to be born with all these disabilities, are this deformities? 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:19.040 Like why couldn't I be like Hulk, Like he gets 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:23.320 that all that stuff, But I have this thing where 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:26.720 my hair won't curl, Like that's not cool, but I 0:10:26.760 --> 0:10:27.280 mean it is. 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:29.640 It is remarkable, and I love that you can look 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:31.800 at it with humor, because that is sometimes the best 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:35.640 medicine of all, dealing with everything you've dealt with. But 0:10:35.720 --> 0:10:38.280 this is all from the aftermath of Chernobyl. I mean, 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:42.280 it's just it's crazy. But you had your legs were 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:47.200 different lengths correct, and you didn't You had no thumbs. 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:50.839 Each hand had web fingers. Each foot had six toes. 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:52.959 I mean this and your biological parents. 0:10:53.000 --> 0:10:56.959 I was so proud of that six toes. I should 0:10:56.960 --> 0:10:59.160 have stuck to swimming. I was born with web toes 0:10:59.200 --> 0:10:59.840 and web feet. 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:02.400 Why it's true. 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:04.439 I guess that would be helpful. 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:07.720 I'm sure you probably Yeah, you'd get in trouble because 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:09.439 you just had an advantage over everyone else. 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:11.920 Yeah, then watch out, Michael Felts, right, and then you 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:12.679 really could do it. 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:16.720 But your biological parents left you at an orphanage, correct. 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:27.040 Yeah, And before I really realized how the adult understanding 0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:31.199 of why one would do that, especially to the orphanages 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:34.080 that I was left, and I was so angry at 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:36.520 them because I could not understand why somebody would do that. 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:40.720 And my mom, who adopted me, is so kind, so loving, 0:11:40.760 --> 0:11:43.040 and always gave them a benefit of the doubt, and 0:11:43.080 --> 0:11:46.320 she was correct. Everything that she told me was growing 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:47.760 up is I'm sure they loved you, and it was 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:51.200 the hardest decision they had to make that they just 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:54.880 didn't have the resources to provide with all the things 0:11:54.880 --> 0:11:59.040 that you were going to need to be healthy. And 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:01.559 later on, that's what I find out was one of 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:05.040 the reasons is the government just basically eventually just told 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:07.800 them like she died, to stop trying, like they did 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:10.319 not want to give me away, and the government just 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:14.000 said she died, so they just relinquished me. Little did 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:18.600 they know I actually did not die. I'm too stubborn 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:23.640 for that. I think die and I've lived my first 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:27.000 years and three different orphanages, And the way it works 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:31.439 is you go into like from birth to two, you're 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:34.160 in one orphanage, and then from two to five you're 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:36.640 in like a baby home, and then five years old 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:38.800 you're considered an adult, so you move into the adult 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:43.360 orphanage with other kids that are also up to fifteen 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:48.120 at fifteen for a female, sixteen for men. And if 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:50.600 you're not adopted by them, they just you're just put 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:51.840 out on the street, or a lot of the men 0:12:51.920 --> 0:13:00.120 go into wow military. 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:05.520 Did you ever have a follow up or connect with 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:09.000 your birth parents afterwards? Do you have any idea where 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:11.559 they are, what happened to them? 0:13:11.840 --> 0:13:15.320 I do, so I do now through more, I found 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:19.160 out I have two biological brothers, which is so crazy 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:22.040 all through because when I was I had the opportunity 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:25.840 to go to the US Embassy in Kiev for a 0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:29.240 diplomatic reason in twenty fifteen, because at that time it 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:34.000 was around the twenty fifth anniversary of the Ada Act, 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:40.240 and also because in twenty fourteen, not to get political 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:44.320 and bring it up, but right at like between the 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:48.400 socio Olympic and Paralympic Games, Russia invaded Ukraine and a 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:54.160 lot of the military men were coming back with amputations 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:56.960 and all these injuries, so it's kind of a twofold. 0:13:57.080 --> 0:14:00.440 I went back there because of the anniversary of the 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:03.400 Ada Act here in America and how to make society 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:09.000 more accessible for civilians, but also for the servicemen and 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:12.960 women who are fighting to protect their freedom, and to 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:17.280 show what's possible through prosthetics through wheelchairs. Little did I 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:20.160 know I'd have to climb up four flights of stairs 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:23.160 to get up to where these people are in their hospital, 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:27.080 which was wild. And then I also went there because 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:30.960 this is kind of like a short story. I'm just 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:33.400 making very long now at this point, I'm so sorry. 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:37.720 But I also went there because Ukraine's trying to get 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:42.200 rid of orphanage government ran orphanages, and there's two different ones. 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:46.440 There's local orphanages and then there's government ran orphanages, and 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:50.280 those are the government ones are where all the corruption 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:54.240 happens and the mistreatment happens, and that's where I was 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:57.680 from birth. They're trying to turn it more into foster 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:01.200 care and to provide these homes were kids can understand 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:05.200 and grow up with a homely environment instead of an 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:09.680 institutionalized environment, and so that was kind of strange. But 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:17.000 because I was there, I literally my birth parents found 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:18.960 out I was alive. I was there. I did not 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:21.000 get to meet them there. I wasn't ready for that, 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:24.360 but I do want to one day. I want to 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:27.000 meet them so bad. So I do want to ask 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:29.240 them where did I get this awful hairline from? Is it? 0:15:29.280 --> 0:15:31.760 Who is it from? And why I ask that on 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:35.760 to me? Out of all the things you could. Yeah, like, 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:40.720 I'm in communication with my two biological brothers right now, 0:15:40.760 --> 0:15:44.320 and that's the hardest thing to be honest, is with 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:49.680 what's going on right now with Ukraine. Is just like 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:53.640 I have a dream that can only come true in Ukraine, 0:15:53.720 --> 0:15:56.080 and I really hope one day there is a Ukraine 0:15:56.080 --> 0:16:00.520 to go back to to meet to know where where 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:04.680 I'm from and just get to know this identity. I've 0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:09.080 always had a question mark that. Yeah, so I just 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:10.600 hopefully that will happen. 0:16:10.920 --> 0:16:16.600 But yeah, well that is I wasn't expecting that story. 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:19.240 But how long I'm sorry, no, no, no, what I'm saying 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:22.160 it was, I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:24.320 to hear. When you you know, given all you've gone through, 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:27.880 what you would feel about your birth parents, and to 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:29.560 hear you now, it sounds like you had to get 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:32.080 to a place. But how long did it take in life? 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:34.480 What age were you before you some of that anger 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:36.880 you even talked about started to maybe subside, and you 0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:38.280 didn't hold a grudge against. 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:43.040 Them, Oh my gosh. Honestly, honest, I'd be lying if 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:44.840 I say I didn't have a little bit of anger now. 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:50.960 But it's not to them. It's just it's just that. 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:54.440 And I get this A lot A lot of people 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:56.760 are like, how are you so proud to be Ukrainian? 0:16:56.760 --> 0:16:59.480 Why do you still love a country and so proud 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:03.560 in where the Ukrainian flag when you have all these 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:06.280 horrible memories, And yes, I do, but that wasn't the 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:10.280 country that it wasn't Ukraine. It was just a few 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:13.480 bad eggs. They're everywhere. They're within our families, they're within 0:17:13.520 --> 0:17:16.160 our communities. There's a few bad eggs. And I could 0:17:16.240 --> 0:17:19.439 choose to let those few bad eggs determine how I 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:22.240 view where I come from and my identity, which is 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:25.000 that's my identity. I'm very proud to be Ukrainian and 0:17:25.000 --> 0:17:29.840 I have really good memories, but I I don't know, 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:33.399 like it was sports for me is what helped me 0:17:33.520 --> 0:17:38.560 process that and rowing and every time I had to 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:42.960 process and understand, like what happened to me was a 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:49.320 not okay. And I think it just one of those 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:51.160 things that like a little bit of anchor is gonna 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:53.399 always be there, but not to them specifically, just a 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:55.719 little bit of like why do people have to do 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:59.760 this to young kids, powerless kids without voices? And then 0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:04.520 when I released my memoir, I got an overflooding amount 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:10.840 of messages from kids in Ukrainian orphanages, but orphanage in 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:14.440 general like too that said, oh my gosh, I went 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:18.280 through the exact same thing literally they and this was 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:22.760 and they were just getting adopted or their new lives somehow. 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:25.920 And this is just within like three four years. So 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:28.040 that's the anger that I have more is that this 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:30.359 is still happening. It hasn't changed. 0:18:30.320 --> 0:18:35.040 The abuse of young children in these institutionalized orphanages exactly. 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:42.480 Yeah, And you know, it's it is hard because I 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:46.439 have I can be angry about my disability, about my hands, 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:49.840 about my legs, but I think the hardest thing for 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:56.040 me that I had to overcome was the scars on 0:18:56.080 --> 0:19:00.159 my body. That's not resulted from my disability. It's a 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:02.679 scar that a story has been written for me. I 0:19:02.720 --> 0:19:04.600 never got to choose how I got it, where it 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:08.520 was placed, or why. And that's that's when I think 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:12.159 about the anger, like that's just what it has. But 0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:15.479 then like for me, the power of sport just really 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:20.280 helped me process it. I had to heal physically with 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:22.840 my new imputations and everything else, but it helped me 0:19:23.240 --> 0:19:27.200 heal mentally and emotionally in ways I had no idea 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:31.000 that I truly needed. And it was a way like 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:33.439 when you're a kid. I got into rowing when I 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:36.680 was thirteen. A lot of my memories I was suppressing 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:41.560 around sixteen to twenty, they were all flooding back. There's 0:19:41.640 --> 0:19:44.200 like that's so true, Like where you can only put 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:46.640 a box and tie it up and you just get 0:19:46.680 --> 0:19:48.800 a bigger rubber band around it and put more tape 0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:51.520 on it. Eventually that box is gonna explode. It's a 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:55.040 matter of time. It's not sustainable. And I had sport 0:19:55.080 --> 0:19:59.440 in my life when everything inside just exploded and went often. 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:03.879 It gave me a path and a direction and a 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:07.280 way to be able to express and scream. I always say, 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:10.480 like a way to scream without needing to physically scream 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:15.280 and process when I didn't have the words to explain 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:18.359 and talk to someone of what I'm feeling. And I 0:20:18.400 --> 0:20:24.119 think in that way because sports became such a healing tool. 0:20:24.280 --> 0:20:26.440 Not I want to be an Olympian Paralympic athlete, I 0:20:26.520 --> 0:20:30.560 want to have a gold medal. It was it was 0:20:30.680 --> 0:20:34.240 my escape and I loved it so much and that 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:38.560 became a secret weapon in a way. Now heading into 0:20:40.000 --> 0:20:42.560 my seventh Paralympic Games, is that love for sport not 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:43.840 just that love for winning. 0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:47.600 That's incredible. Yes, sports, you're forced to be in the moment. 0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:50.440 How did you I'm curious just with with all of 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:54.399 the just issues stacked against you physically, and then you 0:20:54.440 --> 0:20:56.359 said you had amputations. I believe you had both of 0:20:56.359 --> 0:20:59.680 your legs amputated. What made you think, I know, I'll 0:20:59.720 --> 0:21:02.080 get it to sports? How were you led in that direction? 0:21:02.200 --> 0:21:04.200 That would be a lot of people would think the 0:21:04.280 --> 0:21:06.680 last thing they thought they could do, But you did it. 0:21:06.760 --> 0:21:07.520 How did it happen? 0:21:09.160 --> 0:21:11.520 It was the last thing I thought I could do too. Actually, 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:15.800 I had no idea that I could be an athlete. 0:21:15.880 --> 0:21:18.000 I was always active as a kid. I was always 0:21:18.040 --> 0:21:20.680 climbing on things, getting in trouble and just loved moving 0:21:20.720 --> 0:21:26.600 my body and so my legs. Literally I was missing 0:21:26.600 --> 0:21:28.479 the main weight bearing bone and I had double of 0:21:28.480 --> 0:21:30.840 the non weight bearing bone, but it looked like assault 0:21:30.880 --> 0:21:32.920 Shaker was when you look at the X ray of 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:36.120 the bone. Assault Shaker was just sprinkled across. So the 0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:42.280 bone itself wasn't formed correctly at all. And I taught 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:43.880 myself how to walk to be able to get around 0:21:43.880 --> 0:21:47.480 in the orphanage, to just survival instinct. But because I 0:21:47.600 --> 0:21:52.280 was so malnourished, it hurt, but it wasn't affecting me 0:21:52.640 --> 0:21:55.280 to the point where when I came to America and 0:21:55.320 --> 0:21:58.800 I grew about I think like eleven inches within the 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:01.199 first two months, which is a lot just based on 0:22:01.320 --> 0:22:06.560 food alone, and the weight couldn't sustain that. So I 0:22:06.560 --> 0:22:10.720 had to have amputated above the knee, which in itself 0:22:11.080 --> 0:22:13.960 is very different than being a below the knee amputee. 0:22:14.080 --> 0:22:18.080 Like missing every joint you're missing, it just makes it 0:22:18.160 --> 0:22:21.520 that much harder. And so of course when I was 0:22:21.880 --> 0:22:25.040 nine and then fourteen, when I had my second leg amputated, 0:22:25.200 --> 0:22:27.320 I was thinking about, I'll never have my knee pop 0:22:27.400 --> 0:22:30.120 kiss now. And that's where, like you know, like most 0:22:30.280 --> 0:22:32.800 knees and stuff, you're just like the knee pops up 0:22:32.800 --> 0:22:35.280 and Anne Hathaway and Princess Diaries. I was never gonna 0:22:35.280 --> 0:22:40.920 have that moment to do that, like, yeah, well okay, 0:22:40.920 --> 0:22:42.760 now I just got to destruct from what your original 0:22:42.840 --> 0:22:44.040 question was based on. 0:22:44.080 --> 0:22:46.720 That, Well, it was based on after you know you're 0:22:47.000 --> 0:22:49.560 having amputations, and how do you then think I know 0:22:49.680 --> 0:22:50.520 I'll be an athlete? 0:22:50.600 --> 0:22:51.920 I mean, where does that come from? 0:22:53.160 --> 0:22:55.520 I think it's I did not think I was going 0:22:55.560 --> 0:22:58.600 to be an athlete. It was right before my second 0:22:58.600 --> 0:23:02.120 amputation I was rowing and I was introduced to rowing 0:23:02.200 --> 0:23:04.960 my mom and got me involved with ice skating when 0:23:04.960 --> 0:23:07.760