“Skiing has always brought me back to myself.” — Sarah Bennett
Her athletic career took a new turn in 2025. Sarah Bennett is fully aware of what is at stake in her decision to follow her own independent path. The 24-year-old athlete chose to move forward freely, earning her place one race at a time. While the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games remain on her radar, her primary focus is on her performances in World Cup competition.
And that approach is paying off. At the time of writing, Sarah has just completed five events on the Nor-Am circuit in Copper Mountain, Colorado, delivering strong and consistent results: a second- and third-place finish in super-G, fourth and seventh in giant slalom, and a victory in slalom.
In a message sent to NOPé, her mindset was clear. “This is definitely the best series of races of my career so far, and I also achieved my best result in slalom with a first-place finish and a score of 15.00 FIS points. I am also currently leading the overall Nor-Am standings. A very strong start to the season.”
NOPé met with the skier on the eve of a key moment in her season, just as she was preparing to leave Quebec for Colorado. Even then, her message was marked by clarity: moving at her own pace, making the right decisions, and focusing on what she can control, her preparation, her skiing, and her performances.
Sarah Bennett’s alpine skiing journey
Before moving forward, it is worth revisiting her athletic path. Born in Laval, Sarah recalls the countless trips back and forth between her hometown and Stoneham, where she first took up skiing.“I started skiing at two years old, and by the time I was three or four, I was already part of the Stoneham Ski Club. Back then, I was taking ski lessons, and my mom tells me I absolutely did not understand why I had to make a pizza wedge to go down the hill when it was so much faster to ski straight.”
Very quickly, Sarah was identified as a naturally talented athlete, with coordination, speed, and a competitive instinct. “I loved downhill skiing. I wanted to win, and I always wanted to go fast. Either I won, or I finished in the top three. In elementary school, I wasn’t particularly strong academically, but in skiing it was different. It was a huge source of motivation.”
From the Stoneham Ski Club to the regional team, then the elite team, followed by Team Quebec and the Canadian national team at the World Cup level, the young athlete competed in all disciplines before gradually focusing her efforts on slalom, giant slalom, and super-G.
Her first steps toward the world’s skiing elite
The 2021–2022 season marked a turning point in her career, as Sarah stood out on the international junior circuit, notably at the Junior World Championships, while also making her first appearances in World Cup events.
Her progress was later slowed by several significant injuries, including a serious shoulder injury sustained in January 2023, followed by a long rehabilitation period.
After losing her place on the national team, Sarah chose to continue her career independently, fully self-funding her preparation and competitive seasons, while continuing to pursue a long-term return to the world’s elite.
Since then, she has continued to compete internationally, primarily on the Nor-Am circuit, with the goal of accumulating the points needed to secure regular World Cup starts.
Independent skier: Sarah carves her own path outside the national team
The independent route requires many personal sacrifices. Sarah must manage her training on her own, as well as all the logistics related to sponsorship outreach, equipment purchases, travel, and race registrations. She has also developed occasional coaching activities as a way to help finance her competitive seasons. Last summer, she traveled to Chile to coach young skiers during training camps, while continuing her own preparation for upcoming competitions.
Very active on social media, she shares her daily life as an independent athlete, a model that gives her complete freedom over her schedule, her races, and her priorities.
“I am 100% on my own in this journey,” she says, determined to do everything possible to regain her place in the World Cup start system. The Olympic Games remain part of her dreams, but she prioritizes her long-term development above all else.
Today, more than ever in her athletic career, Sarah Bennett embodies the courage to move forward on her own, the strength to rise again, the intelligence to reinvent herself, and the pure joy of being on snow.
Five facts about Sarah
- She nearly hung up her skis. Seeing her friends leave to ski in Europe and feeling that something was missing convinced her to keep going.
- Her path has never been linear. Interruptions, comebacks, and rebuilding phases have shaped her journey more than once.
- Reading the snow is one of her strengths. Understanding terrain and conditions is essential to her consistency.
- She relies heavily on her sensations. Without daily coaching, she adjusts her skiing based on how she feels on the snow.
- Speed remains an option. While her priorities are slalom, giant slalom, and super-G, she remains open to speed events when opportunities arise.
The statements in this article were collected by Isabelle Simard.
