Introduction
Anna Beninati (born (1992-12-24) December 24, 1992) is an American Paralympic alpine skier. She won a bronze medal at the 2016 World Cup.
Biography
She grew up in San Antonio, Texas, then attended high school in Salt Lake City and studied at Colorado State University. At the age of 17, she was freighthopping with friends and became a double amputee when she missed a jump and the train severed her legs.
She first tried a sit-ski (a seated ski device with two skis underneath) in 2011, just two months after the accident. After lessons with Dave Schoeneck and Peter Mandler, Beninati switched to monoskiing, becoming increasingly independent. In preparation for the Paralympics, she moved to Park City, joining a Paralympic alpine skiing team. In 2015, she won her first national title and a year later she won a medal at the World Cup.
At the 2016 World Cup, Beninati finished third in the seated slalom race, with a time of 1:54.05, behind Anna-Lena Forster, with gold in 1:27.98 and Laurie Stephens, with silver in 1:34.83.
The following season, she was named to the United States Paralympic National Ski Team for the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, only to be dropped one month into the Games.
At the 2019 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships, in Kranjska Gora/Sella Nevea in Slovenia, she finished fifth in the seated slalom race, in the super combined and in the seated super-G.
At Paralympic alpine skiing competitions in the United States and Canada, she reached the podium 10 times. She is a ski instructor at Snowbird.