 Victoria Pendergast April 2013 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Australia |
| Born | (1991-01-25)25 January 1991 (age 34) |
| Sport | |
| Country | Australia |
| Sport | Para-alpine skiing |
| Disability class | LW12 |
Event(s) | Downhill Super-G Giant Slalom Slalom |
Victoria Pendergast (born 25 January 1991) is an AustralianF58 athleticsshot put competitor andLW12.1 classifiedPara-alpine skier. When she competed at the2014 Winter Paralympics inSochi, she became Australia's first femalesit skier at the Winter Paralympics. She competed in two events, finishing seventh in women'sslalom sit-ski and tenth in the women'sgiant slalom sit-ski. She also won a silver and a bronze medal in the slalom andsuper-G at the 2013 North America Cup, and a bronze medal in the giant slalom at the 2013 IPC World Cup inThredbo.
Victoria Pendergast was born inGosford,New South Wales on 25 January 1991.[1] She hassacral agenesis, and was born missing the lower part of her spine.[1] She attendedLoreto Normanhurst, and in 2013 she graduated with a degree in business and marketing from theUniversity of Technology, Sydney.[1][2] In early 2014, she was working as a telemarketer.[1] She is anF58 classifiedshot put competitor who finished 8th in the Girls Shot Put Disability Open at the 2004 Schools Athletics Championships.[3]
Pendergast is anLW12.1 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 tosit-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 inAvon, 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 atCopper Mountain,[8] and at the 2012 Japan Para Alpine Ski Championships in the women's sittingsuper-G event.[4][9]
Pendergast won a silver and bronze medal in theslalom and super G at the 2013 North America Cup, and a bronze medal in thegiant slalom at the 2013 IPC World Cup inThredbo.[6] By February 2014, she was ranked 12th in the world indownhill and giant slalom, and 13th in slalom and super-G.[5]
At the2014 Winter Paralympics inSochi, Pendergast became Australia's first ever femalesit 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 2015IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships inPanorama,Canada. She finished sixth in the Slalom but did not finish the Super-G and Giant Slalom.[12]
At the2018 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 the2019 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships inKranjska Gora,Slovenia, she competed in two events but failed to finish.[15]
She announced her retirement from alpine skiing in September 2020.[16]
