Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | Australia |
Born | Gosford, New South Wales | 25 January 1991
Sport | |
Country | Australia |
Sport | Para-alpine skiing |
Disability class | LW12 |
Event(s) | Downhill Super-G Giant Slalom Slalom |
Victoria "Tori" Pendergast (born 25 January 1991) is an Australian F58 athletics shot put competitor and LW12.1 classified Para-alpine skier. When she competed at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, she became Australia's first female sit skier at the Winter Paralympics. She competed in two events, finishing seventh in women's slalom sit-ski and tenth in the women's giant slalom sit-ski. She also won a silver and a bronze medal in the slalom and super-G at the 2013 North America Cup, and a bronze medal in the giant slalom at the 2013 IPC World Cup in Thredbo.
Victoria "Tori" Pendergast was born in Gosford, New South Wales on 25 January 1991. [1] She has sacral agenesis, and was born missing the lower part of her spine. [1] She attended Loreto Normanhurst, and in 2013 she graduated with a degree in business and marketing from the University of Technology, Sydney. [1] [2] In early 2014, she was working as a telemarketer. [1] She is an F58 classified shot put competitor who finished 8th in the Girls Shot Put Disability Open at the 2004 Schools Athletics Championships. [3]
Pendergast is an LW12.1 classified skier, [4] the classification for athletes "with good sitting balance... and double above knee limb loss." [5] She was spotted on the slopes by officials from Disabled Winter Sports Australia during a family ski holiday. [1] This led to her participation in Athlete Development Programs run by Disabled Winter Sports Australia. [2] Born missing the lower part of her spine, she is suited to sit-skiing and embraced hurtling down a mountain at 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph) in a custom built sled. [6] She made her international debut at the New Zealand Winter Games in 2010. [1]
During the North American 2010/2011 skiing season, Pendergast was based in Avon, Colorado, and competed in eight races, where she earned four bronze medals and a silver medal, and finished the season ranked 66th. [7] That season, she also participated in a 2-month long national development team training camp in Colorado. [2] As a member of Australia's development team, she competed at a competition in December 2012 at Copper Mountain, [8] and at the 2012 Japan Para Alpine Ski Championships in the women's sitting super-G event. [4] [9]
Pendergast won a silver and bronze medal in the slalom and super G at the 2013 North America Cup, and a bronze medal in the giant slalom at the 2013 IPC World Cup in Thredbo. [6] By February 2014, she was ranked 12th in the world in downhill and giant slalom, and 13th in slalom and super-G. [5]
At the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Pendergast became Australia's first ever female sit skier at the Winter Paralympics. [10] She competed in two events, finishing seventh in the women's slalom sit-ski and tenth in the women's giant slalom sit-ski. [11]
Pendergast competed in three Women's Sitting events at the 2015 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in Panorama, Canada. She finished sixth in the Slalom but did not finish the Super-G and Giant Slalom. [12]
At the 2018 Winter Paralympics, her second Games, she finished fourth in the Women's Downhill Sitting and eighth in the Women's Giant Slalom. [13] [14]
At the 2019 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, she competed in two events but failed to finish. [15]
She announced her retirement from alpine skiing in September 2020. [16]
Paralympic alpine skiing is an adaptation of alpine skiing for athletes with a disability. The sport evolved from the efforts of disabled veterans in Germany and Austria during and after the Second World War. The sport is governed by the International Paralympic Committee Sports Committee. The primary equipment used includes outrigger skis, sit-skis, and mono-skis. Para-alpine skiing disciplines include the Downhill, Super-G, Giant Slalom, Slalom, Super Combined and Snowboard.
Toby Kane is an Australian Paralympian who won a bronze medal in the men's super G Standing at the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Torino and a bronze medal in the men's super G standing in his third Winter Paralympics at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi. Invited to join the Australian Winter Paralympic Development team when he was just 11, he became the youngest member of the Australian team in Torino at the age of 19. He had the honour of being Australia's flag bearer at the closing ceremony in Torino, and at the opening ceremony in Vancouver. Towards the end of the Sochi Games, Kane and Dutch snowboarder Bibian Mentel-Spee were named winners of the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award, which is presented at every Paralympic Games for outstanding performances and overcoming adversity.
The 1994 Winter Paralympics were held in Lillehammer, Norway. Australia sent six male skiers, who won three gold, two silver and four bronze medals. Australia, at the time, achieved their best ever performance at a Winter Paralympics, finishing 5th overall in the alpine skiing competition, 9th in the medal standings, and 11th in the total medal count out of 31 nations.
Jessica Gallagher is an Australian Paralympic alpine skier, track and field athlete, and tandem cyclist. She was Australia's second female Winter Paralympian, and the first Australian woman to win a medal at the Winter Paralympics at the 2010 Vancouver Games. She competed at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, where she won a bronze medal in the Women's Giant Slalom Visually Impaired.
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LW12 is a para-Alpine and para-Nordic sit skiing sport class defined by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). An LW12 skier needs to meet a minimum of one of several conditions including a single below knee but above ankle amputation, monoplegia that exhibits similar to below knee amputation, legs of different length where there is at least a 7 centimetres difference, combined muscle strength in the lower extremities less than 71. For international competitions, classification is done through IPC Alpine Skiing or IPC Nordic Skiing. For sub-international competitions, classification is done by a national federation such as Alpine Canada. For para-Alpine, this class is subdivided into two subclasses.: LW12.1 and LW12.2. A new sit-skier competitor with only national classification will compete as LW12.2 in international competitions until they have been internationally classified.
LW11 is a para-Alpine and para-Nordic sit skiing sport class, a classification defined by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC for people with paralysis in the lower extremities and people with cerebral palsy that affects the lower half of the body. Outside of skiing, the competitor in this class is unable to walk. For international competitions, classification is done through IPC Alpine Skiing or IPC Nordic Skiing. For sub-international competitions, classification is done by a national federation such as Alpine Canada.
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