Kurt Harry Fearnley

Kurt Harry Fearnley Kurt Fearnley - Australian world champion wheelchair athlete. He was born with lumbar sacral agenesis, missing the lower portion of his spine. He is the youngest of five children.

He took up wheelchair racing when he was 14. Introduced to wheelchair basketball before athletics, he started competing in wheelchair races in his teens whilst in school at Carcoar. After finishing his HSC in 1998 he moved to Sydney to study for a Bachelor of Human Movement degree.

A bevy of accolades off the track have seen Kurt named a Young Australian of the Year finalist (2005), recipient of a Pierre De Coubertin Award, an Australian Sports Award (Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability -2006) and the sole Australian nominated for a prestigious Laureus World Sports Award in 2007.

He was named the 2009/10 Male Athlete of the Year with a Disability. (athletics.com.au, 18 Apr 2010)

He was named 2009 New South Wales Young Australian of the Year. (kurtfearnley.com, 23 Dec 2009)

In 2008 he became the first person to win the New York Marathon three times in the men's wheelchair division. He won the race for a fourth successive time in 2009. (paralympic.org.au, 23 Dec 2009, heraldsun.com.au, 18 Nov 2009)

He was named the Commonwealth Male Disabled Athlete of the Year for 2007. (paralympic.org.au, 23 Dec 2009)

In 2006 he was awarded the Pierre De Coubertin Award [Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability]. (kurtfearnley.com, 27 Aug 2010)

He was the Australian Sports Awards' 2006 Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability. (paralympic.org.au, 23 Dec 2009)

In 2005 he received the Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition of his performances at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. (paralympic.org.au, 23 Dec 2009)

He was named the 2004 Male Paralympian of the Year by the Australian Paralympic Committee. (paralympic.org.au, 23 Dec 2009)

• Paralympic Classification: T54
• Australian Records: 400m, 800m, 5000m, 10,000m, Half Marathon and Marathon
• Paralympic Records: 5000m and Marathon

Achievements/Results

Paralympic Games - 2008 Beijing

• Marathon – Gold
• 800m – Silver
• 5000m – Silver
• 1500m – Bronze

Paralympic Games - 2004 Athens

• Marathon – Gold
• 5000m – Gold
• 4x100m Relay – Silver
• 800m " 1500m – 4th

Paralympic Games - 2000 Sydney

• 800m – Silver
• 4x100m – Silver
• 1500m – 4th

Olympic Games - 2004 Athens

• 1500m Demonstration Race – 5th

Olympic Games - 2000 Sydney

• 1500m Demonstration Race – 4th

World Championships - 20011 IPC World Championships, Christchurch, New Zealand

• Marathon – Gold

World Championships - 2007 IAAF World Championships, Osaka, Japan

• 1500m Demonstration Race – Gold

World Championships - 2006 IPC World Championships, Assen, Netherlands

• Marathon – Gold
• 800m – Gold
• 5000m – Gold
• 1500m – Bronze

Marathons

Victories

Paralympics (2004, 2008), World Championships (2006, 2011), New York USA (2006 – 2009), London UK (2009), Chicago USA (2007-2009), Los Angeles USA (2005, 2007), Seoul ROK (2006, 2007, 2009), Rome ITA (2007), Paris FRA (2007, 2009), Sydney AUS (2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011), Canberra AUS (2004), Treviso ITA (2007), George RSA (2007), Port Elizabeth RSA (2007)

Podiums

Boston (2nd - 2011), Oesingen (3rd - 2011), London (2nd – 2007, 2008), Seoul (2nd – 2008), New York (3rd – 2005, 2010), Los Angeles (3rd – 2005), Oita (2nd – 2006)

Road Race Wins

• City 2 Surf, Sydney (2011)
• Oz Day 10km, Sydney (2005-2010)
• Peachtree 10km, Atlanta (2007, 2008)
• Cedartown 5km, USA (2008)
• Long Island 10km, New York (2004, 2006-2008)
• Toronto Rolling Rampage 10km (2006, 2007)
• Great North Run Half-Marathon, Newcastle UK (2006)
• Tunnel 2km, Tyne, UK (2006)

Events / Personal Bests

• 400 metres: 47.92 - Atlanta (USA), 30/06/07
• 800 metres: 1.32.73 - Athens (GRE), 2004
• 1500 metres: 2.58.24 - Atlanta (USA), 07/2006
• 5000 metres: 9.54.99 - Atlanta (USA), 30/06/07
• 10,000 metres: 21.24.36 - Ibach (SUI), 7/06/07
• Half Marathon: 42.37 – Great North Run (UK), 2007
• Marathon: 1:18.51 - Boston (USA), 18/04/11
• Marathon: 1:22.01 - Seoul (KOR), 08/05/11