AJ Jennings

Lore & Background

Jennings was born on 7 October 1971. For 20 years before an elective amputation of the lower part of her right leg in April 2012, she lived with depression, chronic pain and an addiction to prescriptive drugs following complications from a dislocated knee. After the amputation, she said: 'Everybody's got the opportunity. You've just got to have the courage to take it.' She is an Equine Sports Therapist, married to Wayne, and has two children.

Her canoeing career began with the Murray Marathon and the 2013 Sale to Sea Disability Kayak Challenge. She won multiple national titles in 2014 and debuted at the world championships that year with a bronze. Over the next several years she won gold at the 2015 and 2017 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, and silver at the 2016 and 2018 editions. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics she won silver in the Women's 200m KL3. After the 2020 Summer Paralympics, where she did not advance to the final, she transitioned to archery following two hip replacements, taking up the sport as part of rehabilitation. She competes in recurve events and is a member of Mount Petrie Bowman in Brisbane.

At the 2024 Paris Paralympics, Jennings lost in the round of sixteen in both the Women's individual recurve open and, with Taymon Kenton-Smith, the Mixed team recurve. She held a Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship and was coached by Steve Vegh and Mark Dougall before moving to the Gold Coast to work with National Para-canoe Head Coach Andrea King. She named her sprint canoe 'Douglas' or 'Doug' after boxer James 'buster' Douglas and pilot Douglas Bader.

Reader's Guide

AJ Jennings' significance lies in her successful transition between two Paralympic sports after major physical changes. After winning a silver medal in paracanoeing at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and multiple world championship golds, she shifted to archery following two hip replacements, using the sport as rehabilitation. Her career demonstrates adaptability and perseverance across disciplines. She competed at the 2024 Paris Paralympics in both individual and mixed team recurve events, reaching the round of sixteen in each. Her legacy includes being a two-time world champion in canoe sprint and a Paralympic medallist, as well as a People's Choice Award winner at the Australian Canoeing Awards in 2015 and 2016. Her personal story of elective amputation after two decades of pain and addiction, and her subsequent athletic achievements, underscores her resilience. She continues to be an example of courage and reinvention in para sport.

Did You Know?

• Jennings underwent elective amputation of the lower part of her right leg in April 2012 after 20 years of depression, chronic pain and prescription drug addiction.
• She transitioned to archery after the 2020 Summer Paralympics following two hip replacements.