Born without the lower portion of his spine, in the small Western NSW town of Carcoar, Kurt Fearnley took up wheelchair racing when he was 14. From pushing his everyday wheelchair as fast as he could down the grass track at school athletics carnivals, to pushing his chair the last five kilometres on a flat tyre at the Athens Paralympics to win Gold in the toughest Marathon in Paralympic history, his determination and never-say-die attitude has rewarded him with the highest accolades in disability sport.

In his highly competitive class, Kurt has not finished off the podium in over 20 Marathons he’s competed in since 2000. 2006 saw Kurt crowned as three time World Champion culminating in Kurt being named as a Finalist for the prestigious Laureus Awards for Most Outstanding International Athlete with Disability.

In 2007 Kurt won the Sportscover Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability for the second consecutive year at the Australian Sport Awards. Kurt had an outstanding 2007, winning the 1,500m event held at the IAAF World Championships in Osaka as well as 10 out of the 11 Marathons he contested including New York, Paris, Chicago, Los Angeles and Sydney, setting six new course records along the way.