 |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Grant Hayden Kenny |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Born | 14 June 1963 Maryborough, Queensland, Australia |
| Sport | |
| Country | Australia |
| Sport | Canoe sprint, Ironman surf lifesaving |
Medal record | |
Grant Hayden Kenny OAM (born 14 June 1963) is an Australian former Ironman, surf lifesaver and canoeist. He won a bronze medal in the K-2 1000m event at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
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Kenny made headlines in 1980 when, as a 16-year-old, he won both the Australian Junior and Open Iron Man Championship on the same day. Kenny then won the Australian Open Ironman Title for the following three years. He also became a household name in Australia due to his sponsorship deals with Kelloggs Nutri-Grain, and appeared in television commercials for the cereal.
After turning his attention to kayaks in the mid-1980s, Kenny later became an important figure in creating the Uncle Toby's Super Series, which was a ground-breaking professional Iron Man circuit that lasted for 12 years. Kenny was also a competitor in the first two seasons, but by 1989 his other interests had taken away the necessary time to train for such a demanding sport and his results were never anything like his domination during his late teens.
In kayaks, Kenny competed in two Summer Olympics. He won a bronze medal in the K-2 1000 m event with Barry Kelly at Los Angeles in 1984.
Kenny is a recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia, which he received in 1986 for his service to sport. [1] He has also been awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000, [2] and the Centenary Medal in 2001, [3] both for his services to the sporting and business world. He was also inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1996. [4]
Kenny was married to the Australian Commonwealth swimming champion Lisa Curry in 1986. They had three children, (Jaimi Lee, Morgan and Jett) , with their eldest child dying on 14 September 2020 at age 33, following a long illness, [5] Kenny and his former wife co-own the Curry Kenny Aviation Group, which in 2009 owned approximately 60 aircraft.[ citation needed ] In May 2009, it was reported that Kenny and Curry had separated. [6]
On 17 December 2012, it was reported that he and comedian Fifi Box were expecting a child. This was later confirmed, and on 5 April 2013 a daughter was born. [7] [6]
Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman is an Aboriginal Australian former sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. Her personal best of 48.63 seconds currently ranks her as the ninth-fastest woman of all time, set while finishing second to Marie-José Pérec's number-four time at the 1996 Olympics. She became the Olympic champion for the women's 400 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics, at which she had lit the Olympic Flame.
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Adam Joseph van Koeverden is a Canadian sprint kayaker and politician. He is an Olympic gold medallist in the K-1 500m category (2004) and a two-time world champion in K-1 500 (2007) and K-1 1000 (2011), winning four Olympic and eight world championship medals. His home club is the Burloak Canoe Club in Oakville, Ontario.
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The sport of Ironman was developed in 1964 in Australia by Valentine Trainor to combine the four main disciplines of surf lifesaving into a single race; swimming, board paddling, ski paddling and running. The sport should not be confused with Ironman triathlon. It is typically run as a single event as a part of a surf life saving carnival, although it can be run as a sport in its own right. Internationally it is sometimes called Oceanman.
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Trevor Ronald Hendy, AM is a former Australian professional surf lifesaver.
Ky Hurst is an Australian swimmer and ironman. He competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 10km marathon swimming event and finished in 11th place, after qualifying by finishing fifth at the 2008 FINA World Open Water Swimming Championship. Hurst was one of the first Australian athletes to gain selection for the 2012 London Olympics by placing fifth at the 2011 World Open Water Swimming Championships. At that time Hurst decided to continue to pursue both swimming and Ironman racing during 2012, the latter he competed in with great success. Hurst was a long term ward of master coach Dennis Cottrell, at the Miami Club. He is now under noted swimmer and coach Colin Braund and in Bond Club.
Clint David Robinson, OAM, born 27 July 1972, is an Australian sprint kayaker and surf lifesaver. He won three medals at the Summer Olympics: gold in the K-1 1000 meters at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, silver in the K-2 500 meters at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and bronze in the K-1 1000 meters at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
John Joseph Wood was a Canadian sprint canoeist who competed from the late 1960s to the later 1970s. Competing in three Summer Olympics, he won the silver medal in the C-1 500 m event at Montreal in 1976. The medal was Canada's first in the sport since 1952.
Geoffrey "Geoff" John Henke, AO is a former Australian ice hockey player and Australian Olympic Committee official. He was the chef de mission of the Australian Winter Olympic delegations from 1976 until 1994, and is credited with ending the neglect of winter sports in Australia.
Albert George "Albie" Thomas OAM was an Australian middle- and long-distance runner who set world records at two miles and three miles. He was born in Hurstville, New South Wales.
The Uncle Tobys Super Series was a professional Australian Iron Man circuit that ran from 1989 to 2001. It was considered by many to be the pinnacle of Surf Lifesaving and inspired many young kids to become involved in the sport. It also made the sport professional and gave the opportunity for contracted competitors to make a full-time living from the sport.
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Dame Lisa Marie Carrington is a flatwater canoeist and New Zealand's most successful Olympian, having won a total of eight gold medals and one bronze medal. She won three consecutive gold medals in the Women's K‑1 200 metres at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2016 Summer Olympics and 2020 Summer Olympics, as well as gold in the same event at the 2011 Canoe Sprint World Championships. At the 2020 Summer Olympics she also won a gold medal in the K‑2 500 metres, with Caitlin Regal, and as an individual in the K‑1 500 metres. At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Carrington defended her titles in the K‑1 500 metres and K‑2 500 metres event and also won the K‑4 500 metres event. Carrington equalled Danuta Kozák's record of winning all three K-1, K-2, K-4 events, over 500 metres, at one Olympics.
Jett Kenny is an Australian ironman, model and television personality.
