Kris Gemmell
Encyclopedia
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
triathlete
Triathlon
A triathlon is a multi-sport event involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance events. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances...
, and aquathon World Champion winning the title in Cancún
Cancún
Cancún is a city of international tourism development certified by the UNWTO . Located on the northeast coast of Quintana Roo in southern Mexico, more than 1,700 km from Mexico City, the Project began operations in 1974 as Integrally Planned Center, a pioneer of FONATUR Cancún is a city of...
Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
2002. He has also competed in the 2002
2002 Commonwealth Games
The 2002 Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester, England from 25 July to 4 August 2002. The XVII Commonwealth Games was the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK, eclipsing London's 1948 Summer Olympics in numbers of teams and athletes participating.After the 1996 Manchester...
and 2006 Commonwealth Games
2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia between 15 March and 26 March 2006. It was the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.The site...
finishing 6th and 5th respectively.
Kris Gemmell has been racing on the International Triathlon Union
International Triathlon Union
The International Triathlon Union or ITU is the international governing body for the multi-sport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and other nonstandard variations...
(ITU) World Cup circuit since 1998 and has had numerous wins and podium finishes.
Career progression
When Kris moved from Palmerston North to ChristchurchChristchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
in the late 1990s to study at the University of Canterbury
University of Canterbury
The University of Canterbury , New Zealand's second-oldest university, operates its main campus in the suburb of Ilam in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand...
he was an aspiring Rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player. However an injury led to a chain of events that resulted in Kris coming to the attention and under the guidance of Doctor John Hellemans. Hellemans is a well known multiple World Champion Triathlete and coach.
In 1997 Kris competed in the ITU junior World Championships in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
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...
coming a 6th in a field that included future World Champion Ivan Rana
Iván Raña
Iván Raña Fuentes is a Spanish triathlete.-Athletic career:Raña participated in the first Olympic triathlon at the 2000 Summer Olympics. He took fifth place with a total time of 1:49:10.88....
. Kris' break through race on the world stage in the senior ranks came in 2000 when he claimed 3rd place at the Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
round of the ITU World Cup.
2002 saw Kris win selection for the Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
where he was the second placed New Zealander and 6th overall. Later that year he became World Champion in the Aquathon before later in the week backing it up with a 8th place at the Triathlon
Triathlon
A triathlon is a multi-sport event involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance events. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances...
World Championships in Cancún Mexico.
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
team for Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
in 2004
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
. Nevertheless the Year ended on a high note with his first ITU World Cup victory at Gamagori in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
2005 and 2006 saw more good results on the World stage and selection to his second Commonwealth games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
this time in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
Australia. After finishing 5th Kris had a series of 4th placings including at the World Championships in Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. Kris also won at Corner Brook Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and his consistent year was rewarded with 5th place in the ITU points rankings for the year (2006).
In 2007 Kris has enjoyed another consistent season with three podiums and two fourth places. One of those fourths was at the Beijing round of the ITU World Cup and this result gained Kris a nomination for the New Zealand Triathlon team to race the Beijing 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 2008.
Cycling
Kris has also raced alongside professional cyclists in UCIUnion Cycliste Internationale
Union Cycliste Internationale is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland....
sanctioned events such as the Tour of Southland and the Tour of Wellington
Tour of Wellington
The Tour of Wellington or Trust House Classic is a road cycling race held in and around Wellington, New Zealand. The race exists of a men's competition over seven stages and is part of the UCI Oceania Tour.-Winners:...
. In 2007 Kris joined the Subway
Subway (restaurant)
Subway is an American restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches and salads. It is owned and operated by Doctor's Associates, Inc. . Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 35,519 restaurants in 98 countries and territories as of October 25th, 2011...
team for the Tour of Wellington as they both are sponsored by Avanti Bikes
Avanti (bicycle manufacturer)
Avanti bikes is an Australasian company which originated from New Zealand and now distributes bicycles to many countries within Oceania.Avanti put its first bike into the New Zealand market in 1985 and since then has built its range to over 80 models catering for all areas of cycling...
to kick start his season.
In the media
Kris narrowly missed selection to the 2004 Olympics in Athens but was named as 'first reserve'. After training with other team members Hamish CarterHamish Carter
Hamish Clive Carter ONZM is a New Zealand triathlete. He won the gold medal in triathlon at the 2004 Summer Olympics, his second Olympic games. Carter also competed on the International Triathlon Union World Cup circuit as a professional for many years, culminating in a silver medal in 2006 before...
and Bevan Docherty
Bevan Docherty
Bevan John Docherty is a triathlete from New Zealand who twice won medals at the Olympic Games. Docherty attended Tauhara College, Taupo....
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Kris was invited by TVNZ to give 'expert' comments on the men's and women's races. Carter and Docherty famously claimed the Gold and Silver medals and Gemmell was able to reassure broadcaster Brendon Telfer and the New Zealand Television audience that the Australian Greg Bennett would not catch the two New Zealanders.