Sandra "Sandy" Dukat (born May 3, 1972) is an American

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

athlete. Born with

proximal femoral focal deficiency Proximal femoral focal deficiency (PFFD), also known as Congenital Femoral Deficiency (CFD), is a rare, non-hereditary birth defect that affects the pelvis, particularly the hip bone, and the proximal femur. The disorder may affect one side or ...

, she had her right leg amputated above the knee at the age of four. She has competed internationally in

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

, swimming and

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...

. , she holds the marathon world record for above-knee amputee women.

Sporting career

Dukat grew up competing in able-bodied sports. She played basketball, high-jumped and was on her high school swim team. When she called the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) looking for an amputee support group, she found out about their sports teams. It was only then that she learned that Paralympic sport existed.

Swimming

In 1996, Dukat joined the swim team at the RIC. In 1997, she won 2 silver and 1 bronze medals at the USA National Championships, and won her classification at the National 5K Disabled Open Water Invitational. She was named to the US Disabled Swim Team in 1998. At the 1998 Disabled World Swimming Championships, she broke the then S9 American record in the 800 metre freestyle event and was co-captain of the US Team. She did not, however, make finals at the meet.

Skiing

Dukat first became interested in skiing in 1997, after attending the Disabled Sports USA Hartford Ski Spectacular. She started to ski in the RIC Paralympic Sports Program, then committed to training 6 months of each year at the

National Sports Center for the Disabled The National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that began in 1970 providing ski lessons for children with amputations. Today, the NSCD is one of the largest therapeutic recreation organizations in the w ...

in Colorado. Dukat won two bronze medals for alpine skiing at the

2002 Winter Paralympics The 2002 Winter Paralympics, the eighth Paralympic Winter Games, were held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, from March 7 to 16, 2002. A total of 416 athletes from 36 nations participated. They were the first Winter Paralympics in the Ameri ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

and one bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Paralympics in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

. At the 2004

IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships The World Para Alpine Skiing Championships, known before the 2017 edition as the IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships, along with the Winter Paralympic Games, are the most prestigious level of international competition in Paralympic alpine skiing. ...

, she won bronze medals in 3 events,

Downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

Giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant slalom and slalom make up t ...

and

Super-G Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event d ...

. She had success in the IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup, achieving many podium finishes; in the 2003–2004 season, she finished fifth overall. Dukat retired from competitive skiing in 2007.

Triathlon

Dukat turned to triathlon as a way to keep motivated and active during the skiing off-season. In 2003, she won the Physically Challenged division of the Olympic distance St Anthony's triathlon. In 2004, she was named to the US Paralympic Triathlon Development Team. She was on the USA Triathlon Physically Challenged National Team in 2008. Dukat won the Women's Above Knee division of the

USA Triathlon USA Triathlon (USAT) is the national governing body for the multisport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and winter triathlon in the United States. USA Triathlon is a member federation of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee an ...

Paratriathlon National Championships in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. In 2008, she represented the US at the

ITU Triathlon World Championships The World Triathlon Championship Series is World Triathlon's annual series of triathlon events used to crown an annual world champion since 2008. There are multiple rounds of competitions culminating in a Grand Final race. Athletes compete head- ...

in Vancouver. She became 2008 World Champion in her above knee impairment classification, and was named 2008 USA Triathlon Paratriathlete of the Year.

Running

Having previously competed in 5K, 10K and half marathon races, Dukat ran her first marathon in January 2009. She was paced by training partner and below-knee amputee world record holder Amy Palmiero-Winters. With a time of 4:40:46, she was the first female above-knee amputee to finish a marathon in less than 5 hours.

Personal life

In 2007, Dukat was one of five disabled female alpine skiers who climbed

Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...

as a fundraiser, starting a scholarship program for disabled female alpine skiers at the

in Colorado. Dukat attended

Wittenberg University Wittenberg University is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students representing 33 states and 9 foreign countries. Wittenberg University is associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. ...

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County, Ohio, Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, approxim ...

. For a number of years, she worked as an information specialist for the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability. She now works at

The Hartford The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., usually known as The Hartford, is a United States-based investment and insurance company. The Hartford is a Fortune 500 company headquartered in its namesake city of Hartford, Connecticut. It was ranke ...

, liaising with

US Paralympics The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...

. In this role, she won the USOC's Amazing Impact Award for The Hartford's 'Achieve Without Limits' campaign in 2011.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dukat, Sandy 1972 births Living people American amputees American disabled sportspeople American female alpine skiers American female long-distance runners American female marathon runners American female triathletes Paralympic alpine skiers of the United States Paratriathletes of the United States Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Paralympic medalists in alpine skiing Alpine skiers at the 2002 Winter Paralympics Alpine skiers at the 2006 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2002 Winter Paralympics Sportspeople from Canton, Ohio Wittenberg University alumni World record holders in Paralympic athletics 21st-century American women