KURT FEARNLEY OAM
– CHAMPION AUSSIE
PARALYMPIAN -
G'day folks,
Welcome to some background on a man who I've found inspirational in so many ways, and I'd recommend that you watch the videos below.
With over a
decade of experience, Kurt Fearnley’s wheelchair racing career is as impressive
as it is extensive. He has won the Sydney Marathon 11 times, the New York
Marathon five times, and posted victories in Paris, London, Seoul and Chicago.
He has also won three gold, seven silver and three bronze medals across five
Paralympic Games.
Born without
the lower portion of his spine, Kurt took up wheelchair racing when he was
14-years-old. His indomitable spirit saw him go from pushing his wheelchair as
fast as he could down the grass track at school athletics carnivals to pushing
it the last five kilometres of the 2004 Paralympic marathon on a flat tyre to
claim gold.
Unfortunately,
Kurt’s 2008 Paralympic campaign was not the one he had dreamt of, winning
silver in the 800m and 5000m and bronze in the 1500m, before defending his
title and pushing to gold in the marathon. However, just two months later he
won the New York marathon, becoming the first and only person to date in his
division to win the race three times.
Kurt
captivated the Australian public in 2009 when he successfully crawled the 96km
Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea, and in 2011 he was chosen as a celebrity crew
member on the winning yacht in the Sydney–Hobart Yacht Race.
In what has become one of the greatest
rivalries in Paralympic sport, Kurt went head-to-head with Great Britain’s
David Weir at the 2012 London Games. With the whole of the host country behind
him, Weir was unstoppable, leaving Kurt with silver in the 5000m and bronze in
the marathon. Painfully, just 0.01 of a second stood between Kurt and
fulfilling his dream of winning three consecutive Paralympic marathons.
In 2013, Kurt
won his ninth consecutive Oz Day 10km and was awarded the honour of delivering
the Australia Day Address. Off the back of a successful 2013 came two major victories
in 2014. Fighting a virus in the days before the Glasgow Commonwealth Games,
Kurt crossed for silver in the 1500m, and in November he won his fifth New York
Marathon.
Kurt was
selected as co-captain of the 2016 Australian Paralympic Team, representing his
country proudly in the 1500, 5000m, and marathon. During these Games, he was
also elected to the International Paralympic Committee Athletes’ Council.
His
pre-competition routine is to drink a double espresso and litre of sports
drink, and to eat a banana.
QUICK FACTS
Disability
Physical
Impairment – Lumbar sacral agenesis
Sport
Athletics
How
acquired
Congenital
Date of
Birth
March 23,
1981
Home
Newcastle,
NSW
Occupation
Athlete
Started
Competing
1995
First
Competed for Australia
2000
Games
Experience
Sydney
2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016
Heroes
Andrew
Dawes
Career
Highlights
Winning
gold in the marathon at the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games
Clancy's comment: What a guy. I've heard him speak many times, and even after a grueling marathon, he has always been humble, articulate and inspiring.
Love ya work, Kurt!
I'm ...
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