Utah businesses involved in helping Paralympic athletes win gold medals this week
Sep 5, 2024, 6:00 AM
Matt Stutzman, of Team USA, competes against Nathan MacQueen of Team Great Britain in the ParaArchery Men’s Individual Compound Open Quarterfinal on the fourth day of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games on Sept. 1, 2024 in Paris, France. (Alex Davidson, Getty Images)
(Alex Davidson, Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY — For an athlete, there is nothing like hearing your country’s anthem played after winning gold.
Even though Wednesday morning was the eighth time Oksana Masters has heard the United States anthem in her Paralympic career, it never gets old.
She earned the gold medal after winning a grueling ParaCycling race in Paris
“When it hurt the most, that is when the race starts and that is when to push through because if I am hurting there, everyone is hurting there and I wanted to capitalize on that moment,” Masters said.
She is used to pushing through pain and credits a product made by a Utah company to help her.
What is KT Tape?
“If you want to talk about grit and endurance and what we stand for here, she personifies that,” said Zach Decker, chief marketing officer for KT Tape. “She has used our product a long time.”
KT Tape, based in American Fork, makes a type of athletic tape many athletes use.
The tape isn’t just for pain relief, but the company said athletes use it to help with recovery from injuries as well.
“KT Tape lifts the skin and part of that lifting the skin is lifting the muscle fascia attached to the skin, so we create more volume, more space, for blood flow to happen,” Decker said.
KT Tape isn’t the only Utah company whose athlete won a gold medal this week.
Just a few days ago, Matt Stutzman, who shoots arrows with his legs because he doesn’t have any arms or hands, won gold in archery.
