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Roundup: How Team Toyota Is Helping Oksana Masters Improve Her Grip

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by Alex Abrams

Every other week we scour the web for the latest going on in the world of U.S. Para Nordic skiing. Here’s what you missed!


Oksana Masters Gets a Helping Hand From Team Toyota

Oksana Masters will soon get some help in how she grips her ski poles.


Masters, the most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian of all time, shared on Instagram that she has a serious physical impairment with her hands in addition to needing prosthetic legs to walk. But she wrote she has been working with Team Toyota on new technology that will make it even easier for her to hold her ski poles.


Masters added that the technology will improve her mobility on her sit ski and provide her with “more independence on snow.” In one of the videos that she posted on Instagram, a cast that was made of one of her hands can be seen.


“I’m so excited & grateful to have the support of the amazing team at #trd and @teamtoyota to help find solutions to modify my grips where I don’t have to tape them on & finally get on a level playing field with my competitors of controlling my ski poles so I can continue to raise the bar in reaching my fullest potential on snow,” Masters wrote on Instagram. 

Masters is a 19-time Paralympic medalist in Nordic skiing, cycling and rowing. She’s looking to add to her medal count when she competes at the Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 in March.


Masters recently spoke to USA Cycling about a heartfelt gesture that she did while competing in cycling at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. Read more on Master's cycling journey here.


Fellow American cyclist Samantha Bosco was forced to miss the Paralympics because of a serious bike accident that the gold medalist sustained while training for Tokyo. To show her support for her teammate, Masters wore the custom-made jersey that was made for Bosco when Masters won her first cycling gold medal in Tokyo.


The jersey had Bosco’s name on the back of it.


“It was really cool,” Masters told USA Cycling. “Bittersweet because (Bosco) wasn’t there, but then it motivated me to try and wear that jersey even more proudly and do more justice for it.”


Bosco said she greatly appreciated the gesture.


“Oksana not only gave me the ability to be there in a small way by wearing my name literally on her back, but she gave me a bit of happiness in the hardest moments because she let me be a part of her own journey to gold,” Bosco told USA Cycling.


Nicole Zaino, Dani Aravich Continue Offseason Training in Unique Settings

Para Nordic skiers Nicole Zaino and Dani Aravich enjoyed some beautiful sceneries while getting out into nature to find different ways of training this offseason.


Zaino shared on Instagram that she recently rode her handcycle through the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. As a member of the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing development team, she has been training this summer in the hopes of making her Paralympic debut in Italy.

  

“A camping trip in the Tetons was a great change of scenery,” Zaino wrote. “I enjoyed the many miles of biking, wild flowers, cold lakes, and a relaxing weekend outside.”

Aravich, meanwhile, participated in the Broken Arrow Skyrace at Palisades Tahoe in Olympic Valley, California, on June 21. She competed in the 11-kilometer trail-running race and placed 28th after crossing the finish line in 1 hour, 3:39 minutes.


“Ripping the trail band aid off with the @brokenarrowskyrace 11k,” Aravich wrote on Instagram.

Aravich ran cross country at Butler University and competed as a sprinter at the 2000 Tokyo Paralympics before making the transition to standing skiing. She was one of many adaptive athletes to compete at the Broken Arrow Skyrace.

Para Nordic Skiers Celebrate Olympic & Paralympic Day

U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing joined other organizations from across the globe in recognizing Olympic & Paralympic Day on June 23.


The annual event honors the start of the modern Olympic Games and celebrates the inclusion and unity that sports provide through the Olympic and Paralympic movements.


“Today we celebrate Olympic & Paralympic Day and the power of sports across the globe,” U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing wrote on its official Instagram account.

July is Disability Pride Month. To mark the occasion, Aravich was one of several athletes who shared with Team USA about what Para sports means to them.


“Disability Pride is about making sure we are seen, heard, and valued year-round — as athletes and as people,” Aravich said.

Alex Abrams has written about Olympic and Paralympic sports for more than 15 years, including as a reporter for major newspapers in Florida, Arkansas and Oklahoma. He is a freelance contributor to USParaNordic.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.

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