Katie Kelly (Paralympic triathlete)
Kelly in 2015
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Birth name | Kathleen Margaret Kelly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |
 Australian |
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| Born |
6 February 1975 Casino, New South Wales, Australia |
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| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Paratriathlon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Kathleen Margaret "Katie" Kelly OAM (born 6 February 1975) is an Australian paratriathlete, who has a degenerative disease known as Usher syndrome. Kelly began competing in the PT5 paratriathlon classification in February 2015 when her condition deteriorated to a legally blind state. She has just 30 per cent of her vision. With her guide Michellie Jones, Kelly won gold medals at the 2015 and 2017 ITU World Championships and 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Kelly was born on 6 February 1975 in Casino, New South Wales. She is one of five siblings, all of whom were heavily into sport. At the age of five she was diagnosed with poor hearing and subsequently has worn hearing aids. In her mid-20s diagnosed with Usher Syndrome by that an ophthalmologist. The loss of vision meant that she forfeited her drivers licence. In January 2015, she was declared legally blind by an ophthalmologist.
Kelly was educated St Ursula's College, Toowoomba. She completed a Bachelor of Sports Management from Griffith University. In 2009, she gained her Masters from the University of Technology Sydney.
Kelly has worked in the sports industry in roles with the National Rugby League, Melbourne Storm, ANZ Stadium, Newcastle Knights, Northern Territory Dept Sport and Recreation and Athletics NSW. She has also done pro bono work as media liaison officer for the Australian Blind Cricket Team and was a former media liaison officer for the Australian Deaflympic team at the 2005 Deaflympics that was held in Melbourne and was also a DSA board member.
In 2017, Kelly established the Sport Access Foundation to assist children with a disability with access to sport and recreational facilities.
Prior to moving into paratriathlon, Kelly was actively involved in sport particularly distance running and ironman events. She has competed in the New York Marathon. After being diagnosed as legally blind in January 2015, Kelly contacted the Australian Paralympic Committee regarding her eligibility to compete in paratriathlon. In February 2015, was classified as a vision impaired (PT5) paratriathlete.
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