Quotes from Oksana Masters

I like to keep my hair and makeup routines easy and simple on race days.

Time trialing is one of those things that you've got to train for... Being a new rider, it's still really hard for me to know what's the most efficient gear for me to be in. The road race is probably more exciting, in my opinion, because it's a lot faster pace, and people are constantly attacking.

I don't know why, but I love sunflowers, and I just have this vivid memory of being in a field of sunflowers and how they felt like trees. They felt so tall.

My hair is super fine, so I love using Batiste Dry Shampoo to give it volume after I shower and dry my hair. It also gives me extra body and texture for when I choose to wear my hair in a French braid.

When I first had my legs amputated, it was hard for me to be positive and feel pretty. Many people don't know that someone with a disability can be strong and beautiful and successful as an athlete.

I've gotten a lot of people saying. 'That is awesome. You're so brave.' I hate when people say brave. I'm not brave. I'm just living my life. Why is that brave?

It was honestly like 'Annie.' One day I was alone in a cold, dark Eastern European orphanage, and then the next day I was in an enchanted, mystical land known as Walmart.

The biggest challenge during competition is keeping my real legs warm with clothing, because I have poor circulation in the tissue around the amputated areas.

You don't get any second chances.

I am so happy I have been able to channel all the things that I went through when I was younger and make them into something positive.

Every single race that I get on the podium in biathlon, I'm shocked.

I remember seeing the Olympics when I was 13. I always wanted to know how it felt to stand on top of the podium hearing your country's anthem while watching your flag being raised in something you poured your heart and soul into.

I'm a coffee lover.

I usually like to keep my hair and makeup routines pretty simple after I work out but always need a little bit of mascara to finish off the look. I just swipe some on and then am good to go for the rest of the day.

With cycling, I can still be active and compete, and ultimately, that's what I love to do, to be competitive.

I was born with legs, but they were so deformed.

It doesn't matter what kind of body you have, it's the determination and the spirit that's going to get you there. I want to prove that.

I definitely did not like my body when I first started sports. I didn't like my body just in general as a teenager. Being a girl and a teenager with two prosthetic legs and two hands that were misshapen that had so much reconstructive surgery on them, I thought my world was over - put a zit on top of that, and then my life is completely over.

I can go days without eating if I don't think about food. Your mind, to protect itself, learns not to pay attention to that hunger feeling.

I absolutely fell in love with being on the water and the peace and freedom that you get being on the water in a single boat.

I was supposed to be adopted when I was five, but then my adoption was pushed back by two years.

I'm a person that, once I start something, I can't just quit it.

I'm chasing that gold medal.

It's hard to understand the athlete's lifestyle. You literally eat, sleep, train. You go to training camps in the winter where there is no Internet, you can't make phone calls.