Kurt Fearnley

20 Aug 2012: Kurt Fearnley is heading into his fourth Paralympic games at the end of August to compete both on the track and road.

In his three previous Paralympic games he has won three gold, five silver and one bronze medal. Kurt has also won 28 international marathons, the Sydney Marathon six times, the New York Marathon three times in a row and has been victorious in Paris, London, Seoul and Chicago, including 10 wins in 2007.

Kurt was born without the lower portion of his spine and took up wheelchair racing at the of 14. Sport was always a big part of his families life. Kurt's unstoppable spirit saw him pushing himself on grass at school athletics carnivals as well as pushing his chair five kilometres with a flat tyre to win gold at the Athens Paralympics in 2004.

In 2009, Kurt crawled the 96km Kokoda Trail in PNG – wow imagine the sore arms and hands!!

2011 saw Kurt be a celebrity crew member on the winning yacht, Investec Loyal, in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

Heading into London, Kurt determination and courage will be required as he goes head to head with Great Britain's David Weir. This is one of the biggest and best rivalries in Paralympic sport, Weir will have whole of the host country behind him as he tries to defend his two Paralympic gold medals in the 800m and 1500m from a host of challengers, including Kurt. David aznd Kurt then face off for Kurt's domination over the marathon crown on the last day of competition.

Will wearing his lucky marathon jocks which he wears in every major marathon since his first gold medal in 2004, help Kurt to become the first athlete to win three consecutive wheelchair marathon gold medals?

Information gathered from: http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/kurt-fearnley

Kurt crawling the Kokoda Trail

---

Would you like to comment on this article?

Name:
Location:
Comments:
	Please type the red letters and numbers into the red box above. This is to protect our system from SPAM and viruses.

Previous Comments

Kathy Godber from Leppington posted on 20 Aug 2012
With your sheer determination and your Country behind you I think we have our answers.Go hard and Go well Kurt.You can do it