'The Hard Parts:' Oksana Masters on her rise to the most decorated US winter Paralympian

Do Louisville's Highland Middle and Atherton High schools brag about the fact that Oksana Masters went to school there?

They should.

Masters is the United States' most decorated winter Paralympian and one of the world's top athletes. Besides a haul of 17 Summer and Winter Paralympic medals, Masters, who spent her teenage years in Louisville, has modeled for Rihanna and Kim Kardashian cosmetics and clothing lines, is a sought-after spokesperson for companies like Nike, Visa, Procter & Gamble and Toyota and this month will publish a powerful memoir.

"The Hard Parts," (Scribner, $28) is the 33-year-old super-athlete's inspirational chronicle of athletic strength, personal resiliency, and the power of love.

"Like all the greats, Oksana lives on the edge of fear and uses every setback she's ever had to ask more of herself," said two-time Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin.

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How did Oksana Masters end up in Louisville?

Born in Ukraine in 1989 with a multitude of severe physical defects related to her biological mother's radiation poisoning from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Oksana was given up for adoption at birth.

She spent her first seven and a half years in the country’s troubled orphanage system, where malnutrition and emotional and physical abuse were common.

This is where Gay Masters, an American college professor who wanted to adopt a baby, found her daughter.

"I didn't save her," Masters told The Courier Journal. "She would have saved herself, that kid is a survivor."

A job at The University of Louisville brought Masters and her young daughter to Louisville. This is where Oksana underwent multiple operations including the amputation of both her legs. Her first operation took place while she was a student at Highland Middle School. Her second leg was removed when she was attending high school at Atherton.

Background: 'I'm on cloud nine': Oksana Masters wins second Paralympic gold on the way to making history

While Masters writes about the devasting surgeries she experienced as a teenager, it was also the time when she first discovered her love of athletics while learning to row on the Ohio River.

"I push away from the dock," Masters writes in her memoir. "Plunk. That sound. Those ripples. I push the water, and with it all the conflicting and maddening thoughts I have about my body."

How many Paralympic medals does Oksana Masters have?

Masters' passion for rowing would take her all the way to the world stage in London where she won the bronze medal in the 2012 Paralympics.

And that was just the beginning.

Between biathlon, cross-country skiing, cycling and rowing, Masters has amassed a whopping 17 medals among four sports between the Summer and Winter Games including two cycling golds.

"Sports helped me to learn to appreciate my body more for what it was able to do, not on what it was missing," Masters told the Courier Journal.

More: Louisville's Oksana Masters becomes most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian ever

How has Atherton High School recognized Oksana Masters

According to the Atherton High School Alumni Association, Masters was nominated and inducted in 2018 to the honorable Atherton High School Alumni Association’s Hall of Fame and her plaque hangs in the school's front hall.

What can I expect to read in Oksana Masters' memoir 'The Hard Parts'

Masters tells her life story with a perennially upbeat spirit and doesn't shy away from the trauma she experienced in the Ukrainian orphanage or the heartbreak of growing up with disabilities — especially during her emotionally raw teenage years.

"'The Hard Parts' is a street fight for survival," Lesley Visser, CBS sportscaster said of Masters' new memoir. "It stretched our own notions for just how much we can take."

With so much stacked against her from birth, Masters' superpower may be her undying perseverance and resiliency, which are perpetuated by the unquestioning support of her mom and her fiancé, Paralympian Aaron Pike.

Masters lays out all the parts of her remarkable life in "The Hard Parts," which will be available starting Feb. 21.

Reach Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: "The Hard Parts" is Paralympian Oksana Master's gripping new memoir