Ashley McKenzie
 McKenzie at the Our Greatest Team Parade in September 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 17 July 1989 Queen's Park, Greater London, England | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Judo | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | Men's 60 kilograms | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Updated on 1 August 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Ashley McKenzie (born 17 July 1989) is an English judoka. He was a member of the Great Britain Olympic Judo Team at London 2012 and competed at the men's 60 kg division. He was defeated in the second round by Hiroaki Hiraoka of Japan.[1] He also appeared in and made it to the final of Celebrity Big Brother 10 in September 2012.
He was part of the Great Britain Olympic Judo Team at Rio 2016, he reached the third round where he was defeated by Yeldos Smetov of Kazakhstan.
Personal life
McKenzie was born in Queen’s Park, London. He is mixed-race. He was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at an early age.[2]
McKenzie was first exposed to Judo at the age of 11, when he got into a fight with a boy who stole his Charizard Pokémon card. Determined to get it back he joined the Moberly Judo Club where he met his assailant by chance. He eventually got his card back after befriending the boy.[3][4]
Career
His achievements include winning gold at the British Open in 2008,[5] 2009,[6] 2010,[7] 2012,[8] and 2015.[9] McKenzie's first foray into the European U23 Championships in 2009 resulted in a bronze medal win at Antalya.[10] In 2010, he became the second British athlete in history to be crowned an under-23 European champion when he competed in Sarajevo.[11] In 2011, McKenzie earned bronze and gold in the European Cup competitions within Orenburg[12] and Hamburg,[13] respectively. He was the 2011 Judo World Cup champion within Poland[14] and Great Britain.[15] He also earned bronze at the European Championships 2013 in Budapest.[16] From 2013[17] to 2014,[18] he was the back-to-back champion of the Pan-American Open in Uruguay. McKenzie would then achieve gold in the 2014 Commonwealth Games.[19] He competed at the International Judo Federation Grand Slam 2015 in Tyumen where he won silver.[20] McKenzie won bronze at the International Judo Federation Grand Slam 2016 in Baku.[21]
On 15 August 2012, McKenzie entered the Celebrity Big Brother 10 reality TV series. After 24 days McKenzie made it to the final and finished in fifth place.[22]
Achievements
Complete list at judoinside.com[23]
| Grand Slam | Azerbaijan | 2016 | Bronze |
| Grand Slam | Russia | 2015 | Silver |
| British Open | United Kingdom | 2015 | British Champion |
| Commonwealth Games | Scotland | 2014 | Gold |
| Pan-American Open | Uruguay | 2014 | Gold |
| Pan-American Open | Uruguay | 2013 | Gold |
| European Championships | Budapest | 2013 | Bronze |
| British Open | United Kingdom | 2012 | British Champion |
| World Cup | United Kingdom | 2011 | Gold |
| European Cup | Germany | 2011 | Gold |
| European Cup | Germany | 2011 | Bronze |
| World Cup | Poland | 2011 | Gold |
| European U23 Championships | Sarajevo | 2010 | Gold |
| British Open | United Kingdom | 2010 | British Champion |
| British Open | United Kingdom | 2009 | British Champion |
| British Judo Association Annual Awards | United Kingdom | 2009 | British Junior Male of the Year[24] |
| European U23 Championships | Turkey | 2009 | Bronze |
| British Open | United Kingdom | 2008 | British Champion |
References
- ^ "'Bad boy' McKenzie crashes out of judo competition at first hurdle to No 2 seed". dailymail.co.uk. 28 July 2012.
- ^ "Olympic 'bad boy' Ashley McKenzie says judo saved him". bbc.co.uk. 20 July 2012.
- ^ "Team GB star McKenzie took up judo after fight over Pokemon card". dailymail.co.uk. 23 July 2012.
- ^ "'ADHD wrecked my life until I discovered judo' says Commonwealth Games champion Ashley McKenzie". mirror.co.uk. 25 May 2015.
- ^ "British Open 2008" (PDF). britishjudo.org.uk. 8 May 2008.
- ^ "Olympic Spotlight: Ashley McKenzie". voice-online.co.uk. 1 March 2012.
- ^ "2010 LONDON BRITISH OPEN" (PDF). s2.e-monsite.com. 18 May 2010.
- ^ "Judo Joy For Team GB". voice-online.co.uk. 14 May 2012.
- ^ "British Open: Ashley McKenzie among GB champions". bbc.com. 13 July 2015.
- ^ "European Championships U23 2009" (PDF). intjudo.eu. 23 November 2009.
- ^ "McKenzie lifts European under-23 title". insidethegames.biz. 20 November 2010.
- ^ "European Cup Seniors Orenburg 2011" (PDF). alljudo.net. 24 May 2011.
- ^ "Britain claim nine medals at German European Cup". insidethegames.biz. 25 July 2011.
- ^ "London 2012 - McKenzie wins gold at Polish World Cup". uk.sports.yahoo.comm. 1 March 2011.
- ^ "Ashley McKenzie wins gold at Judo GB World Cup". bbc.com. 2 October 2011.
- ^ "Britain's Ashley McKenzie wins European judo bronze". bbc.com. 25 April 2013.
- ^ "Judo - McKenzie one of three British winners in Montevideo". uk.sports.yahoo.com. 18 March 2013.
- ^ "Judo - British judokas McKenzie and Clark shine in Uruguay". uk.sports.yahoo.com. 19 March 2014.
- ^ "Ashley McKenzie wins gold for England in judo under 60kg at Commonwealth Games". voice-dailymail.co.uk. 24 July 2014.
- ^ "IJF Judo Grand Slam Tyumen 2015 Day 1 Recap & Photos". fightnetwork.com. 18 July 2015.
- ^ "Alice Schlesinger claims -63kg gold at Baku Grand Slam". bbc.com. 7 May 2016.
- ^ "Ashley Mckenzie comes fifth in Celebrity Big Brother". digitalspy.com. 7 September 2012.
- ^ "ASHLEY MCKENZIE - JUDOKA". judoinside.com. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ^ "Ashley McKenzie is thankful he found judo". news.bbc.co.uk. 20 August 2010.