Ken Wallace (canoeist)

Ken Wallace
Personal information
Full name Kenneth Maxwell Wallace
Nickname(s) Kenny
Born (1983-07-26) 26 July 1983[1]
Gosford, New South Wales
Height 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Weight 91 kg (201 lb)[2]
Sport
Club Currumbin Creek Canoe Club
Partner Lachlan Tame
Coached by Jimmy Owens (2000 – current)
Updated on 21 August 2016.

Kenneth Maxwell "Ken" Wallace, OAM[3] (born 26 July 1983) is an Australian sprint canoeist who has competed since the mid-2000s, winning gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics and at several World Championships.

Career

Born in Gosford, New South Wales, Wallace originally competed in Ironman events and only switched to sprint racing at the age of sixteen. Two years later he was the K-1 1000 m junior world champion in Curitiba, Brazil.

In 2006, with Australian number one Nathan Baggaley serving a doping ban, Wallace was selected to represent Australia at the 2006 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Szeged, Hungary, where he placed fifth in the K-1 1000 m final.

In 2007, Wallace at the ICF World Championships held in Duisburg, Germany placed 4th in the K-1 1000m Final. This result qualified Australia a berth at the 2008 Olympic Games.

Wallace won two medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing with gold in the K-1 500 m and bronze in the K-1 1000 m events.[4] He also won two medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with a gold (K-1 5000 m: 2010) and a bronze (K-1 500 m: 2009).

In February 2011, Wallace competed in the third season of the Channel Seven television series Australia's Greatest Athlete.

References

  1. "Ken Wallace". bbc.com. BBC. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Ken Wallace". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  3. "Wallace, Kenneth Maxwell – Medal of the Order of Australia". It's an Honour. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  4. "Ken Wallace". corporate.olympics.com.au. Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Nathan Deakes and Anna Meares
Australian Athlete of the Year
2008 (with Heath Francis)
Succeeded by
Emma Moffatt and Brenton Rickard
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