Ken Wallace, born 26 July 1983 in Gosford, New South Wales

Gosford, New South Wales

Gosford is a city located on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, approximately 76 km north of the Sydney central business district...

, is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n sprint canoer

Canoe racing

This article discusses canoe sprint and canoe marathon, competitive forms of canoeing and kayaking on more or less flat water. Both sports are governed by the International Canoe Federation ....

 who has competed since the mid 2000s.

Wallace originally competed in Ironman

Ironman (surf lifesaving)

The sport of Ironman was developed in 1964 in Australia by Mr Valentine Trainor to combine the four main disciplines of surf lifesaving into a single race; swimming, board paddling, ski paddling and running...

 events and only switched to sprint racing at the age of sixteen. Two years later he was K-1 1000 m junior world champion in Curitiba

Curitiba

Curitiba is the capital of the Brazilian state of Paraná. It is the largest city with the biggest economy of both Paraná and southern Brazil. The population of Curitiba numbers approximately 1.75 million people and the latest GDP figures for the city surpass US$61 billion according to...

, Brazil.

In 2006, with Australian number one Nathan Baggaley

Nathan Baggaley

Nathan Baggaley is an Australian sprint canoer and surfski champion. He is a three-times world champion in the K-1 500 m events and has also won two Olympic silver medals. His career has been tarnished by drug scandal.-Career summary:He made his international debut for Australia in 1997, initially...

 serving a drugs

Doping (sport)

The use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport is commonly referred to by the term "doping", particularly by those organizations that regulate competitions. The use of performance enhancing drugs is mostly done to improve athletic performance. This is why many sports ban the use of performance...

 ban, Wallace was selected to represent Australia at the world championships in Szeged

Szeged

' is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county town of Csongrád county. The University of Szeged is one of the most distinguished universities in Hungary....

, Hungary, where he placed fifth in the K-1 1000 m final.

In 2007, Wallace at the ICF World Championships held in Duisburg, Germany placed 4th in the K-1 1000m Final. This result qualified Australia a birth at the 2008 Olympic Games.

Wallace won two medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

 in Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

 with gold in the K-1 500 m and bronze in the K-1 1000 m events. He also won two medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with a gold (K-1 5000 m: 2010

2010 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships

The 2010 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships were held 19–22 August 2010 in Poznań, Poland, on Lake Malta. This is the third time that the Polish city will host the championships, having done so previously in 1990 and 2001...

) and a bronze (K-1 500 m: 2009

2009 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships

The 2009 International Canoe Federation Canoe Sprint World Championships were held 12–16 August 2009 in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, on Lake Banook. The Canadian city was selected to host the championships in October 2003 after having done so previously in 1997...

).

In February 2011, Wallace competed in the third season of the Channel Seven

Seven Network

The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...

 television series Australia's Greatest Athlete

Australia's Greatest Athlete (season 3)

The third season of Australia's Greatest Athlete was broadcast on the Seven Network and was hosted by Mark Beretta, with last season's competitor Wendell Sailor...

.

Wallace is 188cm (6'2") tall and weighs 89kg (196lbs).