By Tatum Bird, Sport captain
EX-NORMO STUDENT PARALYMPIAN
Victoria 'Tori' Prendergast is a Loreto Normanhurst ex-student. She graduated in 2009 and went on to finish a degree in business and marketing from UTS. However, Tori was very special in the way she was born. The lower part of her spine was missing; this has made her physically disabled for the rest of her life. Victoria ‘Tori’ Pendergast was on a family ski holiday as a teen when Disabled Winter-sport Australia spotted her on the slopes. Her eyes opened to the world of Paralympic ski racing.
In the lead-up to her Paralympic debut in 2014 as Australia’s FIRST EVER female Paralympic sit-skier, Tori achieved a podium finish on home soil, winning bronze in the women’s Giant Slalom at the 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup in Thredbo, NSW. She also won silver and bronze medals at the 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing Nor-Am Cup in Sun Peaks, Canada. This set her up confidently into the games. She stood up in good stead at the Games, where she placed eighth in the Slalom and 10th in the Giant Slalom.
This debilitating condition that she was born with did not damage her essence for life as now she is a successful Paralympian soon to compete at the winter Paralympics in PyeongChang, south Korea representing AUSTRALIA.
NORMO CHAMPS
1. Name: Greta Kraszula
Year: 10
Sport: Football
Current team or highest level of achievement- Plays for FNSW institute and trains with the Western Sydney Wanderers.
Age at which player started playing the sport: Year 1 (Around the age of seven)
Way through which player started playing sport: Used to play with the boys from primary school at lunch and really loved it so she joined their club team.
Biggest inspiration: Carli Lloyd who is an American player. She’s a FIFA world champion and won FIFA player of the year 2 years in a row.
Frequency of training: 4-5 days a week including games.
Weird superstitions: Nothing
Hopes for playing sport at Loreto by the time of graduation: Hopes that there is continuous growth and opportunities for girls to play sport at Loreto just for fun or right through to girls who want to pursue a career in their chosen sport.
2. Name: Juliet Lahood
Year: 10
Sport: Taekwondo
Current team or highest level of achievement: Australian National team and winning the Oceania championships
Age at which player started playing sport: Went along with her brother and has been enjoying ever since.
Biggest inspiration: Carmon Martin who is an Australian Taekwondo champion and world champion.
Favourite sports to watch and why: Taekwondo and touch football as she finds them very exciting and enjoyable.
Frequency of training: 6 days a week.
Favourite sporting moment: Done her best knowing that all her hard work has played off.
Weird superstitions: N/A
Hopes for sport at Loreto by the time of graduation: Hopes that every girl in Loreto gives a go at sport and participates in sports where they can have fun and also be challenged.
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