Amanda Jane "AJ" Jennings (formerly Reynolds, born 7 October 1971) is an Australian

paracanoe Paracanoe is canoeing for athletes with a range of physical disabilities. The Paralympic version of the sport is governed by the International Canoe Federation (ICF), and a va'a-specific variant is governed by the International Va'a Federation ( ...

ist and para archer. She won two gold medals at the

ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships are an international event in canoe racing, one of two top-tier Summer Olympic sport events organized by the International Canoe Federation (the other being the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships). They ...

and a silver medal in the Women's 200m KL3 at the

2016 Rio Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 Sept ...

. She competed in archery at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

Personal

Jennings was born on 7 October 1971. In April 2012, Jennings underwent elective surgery to amputate the lower part of her right leg. For 20 years before the amputation, Jennings lived with depression, chronic pain and an addiction to prescriptive drugs following complications from a dislocated knee. In reflecting to life after the amputation, Jennings commented: "Everybody's got the opportunity. You've just got to have the courage to take it." She is an Equine Sports Therapist. Jennings is married to Wayne and they have two children.

Sporting career

Canoeing

Jennings is

classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper * The Classified, a 1980s American ro ...

as KL3 paracanoeist. Reynolds paddling career started with the Murray Marathon and participated in the 2013 Sale to Sea Disability Kayak Challenge. In 2014, she won the K1 200 m, K1 500 m and 1000 m LTA events at the National and Oceania Championships. In her world championships debut, she won the bronze medal in the Women's K1 200 m LTA at the

2014 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The 2014 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships was held from 6–10 August 2014 in Moscow, Russia. They were chosen at an ICF board of directors meeting in Budapest on 10 April 2010. Explanation of events Canoe sprint competitions are broken up i ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. At the

2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, the 41st edition of the World Championships, were held from 19–23 August 2015 in Milan, Italy. Explanation of events Canoe sprint competitions are broken up into Canadian canoe (C), an open canoe wi ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, she won the gold medal in the Women's K–1 200 m KL3. At the 2016 ICF Paracanoe World Championships,

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, she won the silver medal in the Women's 200 m KL3. A month prior to the championships, she underwent an appendix operation. She won a silver medal in the 200m KL3 at the

where paracanoe made it Paralympics debut. At the

2017 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The 2017 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, the 43rd edition of the World Championships, were held in Račice, Czech Republic, from 23 to 27 August 2017. Explanation of events Canoe sprint competitions are contested in either a Canadian can ...

, Račice,

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, she won the gold medal in Women's KL2 200m. After a year of battling injury, Reynolds at 2018 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships,

Montemor-o-Velho Montemor-o-Velho (), officially the Town of Montemor-o-Velho (), is a town and municipality of the Coimbra District, in Portugal. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 26,171, in an area of 228.96 km². History In 711, the Arab oc ...

, won the silver medal in the Women's KL3 200m. At the

2019 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, the 45th edition of the World Championships, were held in Szeged, Hungary from 21 to 25 August 2019. The championships served as the primary qualification regatta for the 2020 Olympic and Paraly ...

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, she finished seventh in the Women's KL3 200m. At the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

, Jennings finished fifth in her Heat and eighth in the Women's KL3 semi-final and did not advance to the final. Jennings held a

Victorian Institute of Sport The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) is the government-funded sporting institute of the Australian state of Victoria. It provides high performance sports programs for talented athletes, enabling them to achieve national and international succ ...

scholarship holder and was originally coached by Steve Vegh and Mark Dougall. In 2015, she moved to the

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, GC, is a coastal city and region in the state of Queensland, Australia, located approximately south-southeast of the centre of the list of Australian capital cities, state capital, Brisbane. It is ...

to work closer with National Para-canoe Head Coach Andrea King. She named her new sprint canoe "Douglas" or "Doug" after two people that have inspired her - boxer James 'buster' Douglas and pilot

Douglas Bader Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, (; 21 February 1910 – 5 September 1982) was a Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared ...

Archery

Jennings transitioned to archery after the 2020 Summer Paralympics as a result of two hip replacements. She took up archery as part of her rehabilitation. She competes in recurve events. She member of Mount Petrie Bowman in Brisbane, Queensland. At the 2024 Paris Paralympics, she lost in the round of sixteen in the Women's individual recurve open. She partnered with

Taymon Kenton-Smith Taymon Kenton-Smith (born 6 September 1994) is an Australian Paralympic Recurve Archer. He represented Australia at the 2020 Summer Paralympics and the 2024 Paris Paralympics . Personal Kenton-Smith was born on 6 September 1994. He was born wi ...

, in the Mixed team recurve where they lost in the round of sixteen.

Recognition

In 2015 and 2016, she was awarded the People's Choice Award at the Australian Canoeing Awards.

References

External links

* *
Amanda Reynolds
at Paddle Australia
archive
*
Archery Australia Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, AJ 1971 births Living people Australian female canoeists Australian female archers Australian amputees Paralympic canoeists for Australia Paralympic archers for Australia Paralympic medalists in paracanoe Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Canoeists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Canoeists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Archers at the 2024 Summer Paralympics KL3-classified paracanoeists Sportswomen from Victoria (state) ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in paracanoe 21st-century Australian sportswomen