Verena Bentele

Verena Bentele currently serves as Landesvorsitzende des Sozialverband VdK Bayern e.V. since May 2023 and as Vize-Präsidentin of the Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund (DOSB) since January 2022. Bentele has held the position of Präsidentin des Sozialverband VdK Deutschland e.V. since May 2018 and was Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für die Belange von Menschen mit Behinderungen at the Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales from January 2014 to May 2018. A distinguished athlete, Bentele is a four-time world champion and has won a total of 12 gold medals at the Paralympics across the events in Nagano (1998), Salt Lake City (2002), Turin (2006), and Vancouver (2010), receiving the title of "Best Female Athlete" from the International Paralympic Committee in 2010. Bentele holds a Magister of Arts in Literature from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.