Deon Kenzie (born 11 March 1996) is an Australian Para athlete who competes in the

T38 (classification) T38 and CP8 are disability sport classification for disability athletics intended for people with cerebral palsy. It includes people who have coordination impairments such as hypertonia, ataxia and athetosis. Runners in this class may appear to ...

prominently in the 1500m. He has won medals at the

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and 2024 World Para Athletics Championships including gold in the Men's 1500 m T38 in 2017. He won a silver medal in the Men's 1500 m T38 at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

Personal

Kenzie was born in

Devonport, Tasmania Devonport ( ; Aboriginal Tasmanians#North, pirinilaplu/palawa kani: ''Limilinaturi'') is a port city situated at the mouth of the Mersey River (Australia), Mersey River on the North West Tasmania, north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. Positi ...

. He has

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

, which affects the right side of his body. He has attended Forth Primary, Devonport High School and The Don College. He lives in

Forth, Tasmania Forth is a small village in north-west Tasmania on the Forth River, west of Devonport and north-west of Launceston via the Bass Highway. It is mainly in the Central Coast Council area, but with just under 25% in the City of Devonport. Fo ...

Athletics

In 2013, Kenzie made his international debut at the

IPC Athletics World Championships The World Para Athletics Championships, known as the IPC Athletics World Championships prior to 2017, are a biennial Paralympic athletics event organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). It ...

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. Competing in the T38 1500m against the likes of Michael McKillop and

Abbes Saidi Abbes Saidi (; born February 9, 1983) is a Paralympian middle-distance runner from Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest ...

, Kenzie led the first lap before eventually hanging on in the later stages for the bronze medal. On 13 December 2014, he broke the Men's 1500m T38 world record at an athletics meeting in the Domain Athletic Centre in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

. His time of 4.08.51 beat

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

world record of 4:09.50 that was set in July 2005. Kenzie is coached by Mike Gunson. At the

2015 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships were a Paralympic track and field meet organized by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. The event was the 7th edition of what is now known as the World Para ...

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, he won the bronze medal in the Men's 1500m T38 in a time of 4:11.60. In the Men's 800m T38, whilst sitting in the bronze medal position coming into the home straight, he fell and eventually finished in seventh place in 2:11.58. After winning the bronze medal in the Men's 1500m, he said: "It's a great reward for all the hard work that I’ve put in this year and I can’t wait to get home to start working with Gunner (coach, Mike Gunson) and Philo (Saunders) on a program that will have me in the best possible shape when it counts even more in 2016." Kenzie won a silver medal at the Men's 1500m T38 at the 2016 Rio Paralympics with a time of 4:14.95. on 31 March 2017 in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, he set a world record in the Men's 1500m T38 with a time of 4:05.11. At the

2017 World Para Athletics Championships The 2017 World Para Athletics Championships were a Paralympic athletics, Paralympic track and field meet organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was held at London Stadium in London from 14 ...

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, he won the gold medal in the Men's 1500 m T38 ((4:06.68)) and silver medal in the Men's 800 m T38 (2:02.15 Australian record). In his only event at the

2019 World Para Athletics Championships The 2019 World Para Athletics Championships was a Paralympic athletics, Paralympic track and field event organised by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, Kenzie won the bronze medal in the Men's 1500 m T38. At the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics, he won the bronze medal in the Men's 1500 T38. In the lead up to the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, Kenzie won the bronze medal at in the Men's 1500m T38 at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe. He is a Tasmanian Institute of Sport athletics scholarship holder.

Recognition

* 2013 – The Advocate-IGA Junior Sports Awards. * 2014 – Athletics Tasmania U18 Athlete of the Year * 2014 – Finalist for the Athletics Australia Para Athlete of the Year award.

References

External links

* *
Deon Kenzie
at Australian Athletics Historical Results {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenzie, Deon Paralympic athletes for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Cerebral palsy-category Paralympic competitors Track and field athletes with cerebral palsy World record holders in para-athletics Sportspeople from Devonport, Tasmania Living people 1996 births Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Australian male middle-distance runners Sportsmen from Tasmania 21st-century Australian sportsmen