 |
| 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.
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.
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 Beatrix 'Trixie' Belle Box was born. [6] [7]
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 eighth-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 lit the Olympic Flame.
Grant George Hackett OAM is an Australian swimmer, most famous for winning the men's 1500 metres freestyle race at both the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. This achievement has led him to be regarded as one of the greatest distance swimmers in history. He also collected a gold medal in Sydney for swimming in the heats of the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. He was well regarded for his versatility, and has held the long course world records in the 200 m, 800 m, and 1500 m freestyle events. He dominated the 1500 m event for a decade, being undefeated in the event in finals from 1996 until the 2007 World Aquatics Championships. In total, he won 10 long-course world championship gold medals.
Kurt Harry Fearnley, is an Australian wheelchair racer, who has won gold medals at the Paralympic Games and crawled the Kokoda Track without a wheelchair. He has a congenital disorder called sacral agenesis which prevented fetal development of certain parts of his lower spine and all of his sacrum. In Paralympic events he is classified in the T54 classification. He focuses on long and middle-distance wheelchair races, and has also won medals in sprint relays. He participated in the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Paralympic Games, finishing his Paralympic Games career with thirteen medals. He won a gold and silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and was the Australian flag bearer at the closing ceremony.
Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson OAM was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. He represented Australia, New South Wales and Queensland all between 1964 and 1981. His main position was at prop. Beetson became the first Indigenous Australian to captain Australia in any sport and is frequently cited as the best post-war forward in Australian rugby league history. He also had an extensive coaching career, spanning the 1970s to the 1990s, coaching Australia, Queensland, Eastern Suburbs, Redcliffe Dolphins and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
Rechelle Margaret Hawkes, is the former captain of the Australian Women's Hockey Team, best known as the Hockeyroos,she was captain for eight years and became the second Australian woman after swimmer Dawn Fraser to win three Olympic gold medals at three separate Olympic Games: Seoul 1988, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000.
Graeme Julian Samuel AC is an Australian businessman. He was the Managing Director and head of the Melbourne office of M&A advisory firm Greenhill Caliburn, and is a member of the Australian National University Council. He previously served as the chairman of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission from 1 July 2003 to 31 July 2011.
Duncan John D'Arcy Armstrong is an Australian former competitive swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. Armstrong is best remembered for winning a gold and silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
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.
James William George Roycroft, OBE was an Australian Olympic equestrian champion. He grew up on a dairy farm and learnt to ride horses there. After serving in the army in World War II, he moved with his family to a soldier's block in western Victoria near Camperdown, where he raised his three sons, all of whom went on to compete alongside their father in the Olympics. At his first Olympics, the 1960 Rome Games, he played a key role on the final day of the team three-day event, despite being thrown off his horse the day before, allowing Australia to win the gold medal in the competition. He went on to compete in four more Olympics from 1964 to 1976, winning bronze medals in team eventing at the 1968 Mexico City and 1976 Montreal Games. He later served as coach of the Australian eventing team.
Lisa Gaye Curry AO MBE, also known by her married name Lisa Curry-Kenny, is an Australian former competition swimmer.
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 is an Australian sprint kayaker and surf lifesaver who has won a complete set of medals at the Summer Olympics.
Barry Kelly is an Australian sprint canoeist and coach.
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.
The Uncle Toby's 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.
Gregory Neil Hartung AO is a leading Australian and international sport administrator. He has an extensive and distinguished career in sport particularly in terms of administration and journalism. He was President of the Australian Paralympic Committee from 1997 to 2013 and served as vice-president of the International Paralympic Committee 2009–13.
Dame Lisa Marie Carrington is a flatwater canoeist and New Zealand's most successful Olympian, having won a total of five 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 crewmate Caitlin Regal, and as an individual in the K‑1 500 metres.
Peter Tasman Bartels, AO is an Australian businessman, track cyclist and sport administrator.
Curtis Wain McGrath, is an Australian paracanoeist and former soldier. He took up canoeing competitively after both of his legs were amputated as a result of a mine blast while serving with the Australian Army in Afghanistan. McGrath won consecutive gold medals in the Men's KL2 at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, and has won ten gold medals and a silver at ICF Paracanoe World Championships between 2014 and 2019.
