Roundup: Oksana Masters Takes Fans Into Wedding Dress Shopping

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 Goes Wedding Dress Shopping

Oksana Masters has stood atop the medal podium at both the Winter and Summer Paralympics, and now she’s getting ready to soon walk down the aisle.

Masters, the most decorated U.S. Winter Paralympian of all time, traveled to New York after winning a pair of gold medals in cycling at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 this past summer. She had a good reason for visiting the Big Apple.

Masters needed to try on dresses for her upcoming wedding to Aaron Pike, a seven-time Paralympian who’s her teammate on the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing national team. She allowed The Knot, a wedding service company, to accompany her as she shopped for wedding dresses.

She even brought the two gold medals she won in Paris along with her as she looked for the perfect wedding dress.

“This is the best day ever,” Masters told The Knot. "Winning gold is good, but trying on dresses in New York is amazing.”

Masters and Pike are a Paralympic power couple that has been dubbed “Pikesana.” They each compete as sit skiers in Para Nordic skiing.

The 2026 Winter Paralympics Less Than 500 Days Away

Para Nordic skiers recently celebrated a milestone. Oct. 22 marked exactly 500 days until the official start of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics.

The Instagram account for U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing marked the occasion by posting a collage that included photos of Masters, Pike and Paralympic gold medalists Jake Adicoff (visually impaired skiing), Kendall Gretsch (sit skiing) and Sydney Peterson (standing skiing).

The Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics will run from March 6-15, 2026. The cross-country skiing and biathlon events will be held in Tesero, a town in northern Italy.

Kendall Gretsch Shares Her Paralympic Journey on TV

Gretsch recently had the opportunity to tell her story about being a seven-time Paralympic medalist while back home in the Chicago area.

A native of Downers Grove, Illinois, Gretsch appeared as a guest on Chicago’s ABC7. She was joined by Dan Tun, the co-founder of Dare2Tri, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the lives of individuals with physical disabilities and visual impairments through swimming, biking and running.

Gretsch spoke during her TV interview about how she knew she wanted to become a Paralympian while in college after reading a story about an athlete who was training for the Paralympics. She then got connected with Dare2Tri, which helped her get the adaptive sports equipment she needed to compete early in her career and has continued to support her along the way.

Gretsch brought the silver medal she earned in the triathlon at the Paris Paralympics with her for her TV appearance.

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.