AJ Jennings lived with chronic pain, depression and an addiction to prescription medication for two decades before bravely deciding to amputate her right leg through the knee. She hoped that this would improve her quality of life, and after discovering Para-canoe in 2012, she realised just how incredible her new trajectory could be.
AJ made her international debut at the 2014 International Canoe Federation Canoe Sprint World Championships in Moscow, Russia, where she won a bronze medal in the women’s kayak LTA. She won her first world title in 2015, and in doing so, all but secured a place on the Australian Paralympic Team for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Time and again, AJ has shown why she is one of the best Para-canoeists in the world, and her first Paralympic appearance would be no different.
To prepare for Rio, AJ split her time between two states, trained on the …
Read MoreAJ Jennings lived with chronic pain, depression and an addiction to prescription medication for two decades before bravely deciding to amputate her right leg through the knee. She hoped that this would improve her quality of life, and after discovering Para-canoe in 2012, she realised just how incredible her new trajectory could be.
AJ made her international debut at the 2014 International Canoe Federation Canoe Sprint World Championships in Moscow, Russia, where she won a bronze medal in the women’s kayak LTA. She won her first world title in 2015, and in doing so, all but secured a place on the Australian Paralympic Team for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Time and again, AJ has shown why she is one of the best Para-canoeists in the world, and her first Paralympic appearance would be no different.
To prepare for Rio, AJ split her time between two states, trained on the water every day and did Pilates three times a week. She did everything she could to ensure that she would be ready for the single greatest moment of her sporting career to date, and after qualifying fastest for the women’s kayak KL3 Paralympic final, what she had been waiting for was finally within reach.
AJ pushed two-time world champion Anne Dickins (GBR) all the way to a photo finish, to wrap up her first Paralympic campaign with a silver medal. Another world title in 2017 followed, before a long battle with injury saw her cross the line in seventh in 2019.
At the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, AJ competed in the women’s KL3 event, finishing 8th in the semi-final with a time of 0:53.373.
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