Kurt Fearnley
Encyclopedia
Kurt Fearnley OAM
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...

 (born 23 May 1981 in Carcoar, NSW
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

) is an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n wheelchair racer, who competes at the Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 level. At the 2004 Olympic Games, he finished 5th in the demonstration sport of Men's 1500m wheelchair
Wheelchair racing at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Wheelchair racing at the 2004 Summer Olympics was featured as two demonstration events as part of the Athletics programme at the Athens Olympic Stadium on August 22, 2004. Medals were not awarded, as the sport was not part of the official competition....

. Following this he won gold in the 5000m and marathon at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
2004 Summer Paralympics
The 2004 Summer Paralympics were held in Athens, Greece, from September 17 to September 28. The twelfth Paralympic Games, an estimated 4,000 athletes took part in the Athens programme, with ages ranging from 11 to 66. Paralympic events had already taken place during the 2004 Summer Olympics as...

 in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

.
In 1997 Kurt was a member of the Western Region Academy of Sport and was inducted into the Academy's Hall of Fame in 2007.

Within four years he was representing his country at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

. Here, Fearnley won silver medals in the 800 metres and 4×100 metre relay.

On 2009-09-30, Fearnley conducted a training climb of Sydney's Centrepoint Tower's 1,504 fire stairs
Fire escape
A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a building or occasionally inside but separate from the main areas of the building. It provides a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency that makes the stairwells inside a building inaccessible...

 in 20 minutes, taking them two at a time. While far short of the 6m 52s record for the annual charity climb (Sydney Tower Run-up), the Tower's manager says this is quicker than the 25 minutes required by most able-bodied people.

In 2009, his achievements included his fourth New York Marathon title, his third consecutive win in the Chicago Marathon and victories in Seoul, Paris, London and Sydney. In November 2009, Kurt crawled the Kokoda Trail
Kokoda Track
The Kokoda Trail or Track is a single-file foot thoroughfare that runs overland — in a straight line — through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea...

 accompanied by family and friends in support of Movember
Movember
Movember is an annual, month-long event involving the growing of moustaches during the month of November. The Movember Foundation runs the Movember charity event, housed at Movember.com...

 and Beyond Blue. He successfully completed the 96 kilometre journey in 11 days.

Kurt is active in advocacy work, and has been an ambassador for the Don't DIS my ABILITY
Don't DIS my ABILITY
Don’t DIS my ABILITY is an educational campaign in New South Wales , Australia. The project is supported by the 's , to celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities....

  campaign for four years. He is also a 2010 IDPwD Ambassador. In 2010, Kurt competed again in the New York marathon, which he came in third. In the same year Kurt's image was also featured on the medal for the 2010 Blackmores Sydney Running Festival.

In 2011, he was a nominee for The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...

's Sport Performer Award in the Performer with a Disability category.
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