Kenneth Maxwell 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.
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| Full name | Kenneth Maxwell Wallace | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Kenny | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 26 July 1983[1] Gosford, New South Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 190 cm (6 ft 3 in)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 91 kg (201 lb)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Tugun Surf Life Saving Club, Currumbin Creek Canoe Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Partner | Lachlan Tame | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Jimmy Owens (2000 – current) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Updated on 18 July 2018. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.
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).
He was awarded the Order of Australia in 2009.[5]
In February 2011, Wallace competed in the third season of the Channel Seven television series Australia's Greatest Athlete.