HP Special Report: Congratulations, Oksana Masters! And Hooray for Sports!

This is an HP Special Report ... Sometimes, Earth is so bizarre. 

Oksana Masters, a 24-year-old Louisville Atherton High School grad who was adopted from a Ukrainian (!) orphanage when she was 7, has won a silver medal in 12-kilometer sitting cross-country skiing in the XI Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia (!). (This actually happened on Sunday, but I'm catching up only now, watching videotape of NBC Sports Network's wee-hours live coverage of events.) 

1 yr of skiing later @oksanamasters won #TeamUSA's 1st cross-country #Paralympic medal since '94 #MotivationMonday pic.twitter.com/cF0NF2O0CH
— US Olympic Team (@USOlympic) March 10, 2014

"Oksana skiied an amazing race, earning silver!" her mom reported from Sochi back to her colleagues at UofL Physicians. "She (earned) ... the first woman's cross-country medal in 20 years! The medal ceremony is tomorrow night, but the flower ceremony is today at the venue."

Dr. M. Gay Masters, a speech pathologist, adopted Oksana in 1997 from the orphanage. Per a release from UofL Physicians:

Oksana had been abandoned there by her parents after she was born with tibial hemimelia, which left her with different leg lengths; an absence of weight-bearing shinbones; five webbed fingers instead of four fingers and a thumb; six toes on each foot; and just one kidney. Both of her legs eventually had to be amputated above the knee. To compete in skiing, she has a special sled and her ski poles have to be taped to her hands. ... 

Oskana’s condition is believed to be a result of her birth mother’s exposure to radiation from a nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Her birthplace of Khmelnitskyy is just a few hours from Chernobyl.

Yes, they said, Chernobyl (!).

Here's a picture of #oksanamasters and mom Dr. Gay Masters after the cross-country medal ceremony today in Sochi! pic.twitter.com/NDR9QWhzE4
— UofL Physicians (@UofLPhysicians) March 10, 2014