Annalisa Minetti

Annalisa Minetti (born 27 December 1976) is an Italian singer, politician, Paralympic athlete, Olympic champion and Sanremo Music Festival winner.

Minetti was a beauty pageant contestant in the 1997 edition of Miss Italia; she gained public attention because she was the first blind woman admitted to the competition. She placed in 7th position and won the title of Miss Gambissime (Miss Super Legs).

Sanremo Music Festival At age 15, helped by her uncle, she took the first steps into the music scene, singing in piano bars covers of Prince, Ray Charles, Celine Dion and Aretha Franklin, her favourite artist. In 1998, she won the 48th edition of the Sanremo Music Festival with the song Senza te o con te.

Paralympic Games As a para-sport athlete, Minetti competes in the T11 disability classification category. She competed in the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the 1500 metres, but due to there being no T11 race in the schedule, she entered the T12 event. She ended the race in third position but set a new world record for her class, beating the previous record set by Miroslava Sedlackova.

Personal history In the Italian legislative elections of 2013, Annalisa Minetti was a candidate with the political movement of Mario Monti.