Kris Burley

Kris Burley
— Gymnast —
Country represented  Canada
Born (1974-01-29) January 29, 1974
Truro, Nova Scotia

Kristan "Kris" Burley (born January 29, 1974 in Truro, Nova Scotia) is a Canadian gymnast, who has represented Canada at the Commonwealth Games, the Pan American Games and the Olympic Games.[1]

Originally from Truro, Nova Scotia, he was based in Richmond Hill, Ontario[2] and Fredericton, New Brunswick[3] during his competitive career.

Competition

He was a competitive athlete from 1989 to 1999,[1] winning four national championships in gymnastics during his career[1] and representing Canada at the World Championships in Gymnastics, the Commonwealth Games, the Pan American Games and the Olympics.[1]

In his first national championship, he won the junior-level all around with 108.1 points to 101.6 for his nearest competitor.[4] He also qualified for several senior-level events despite being just 16 years old at the time, and won the vault and floor events at that level as well.[4] He won the national senior men's all-around in 1995.[5]

Commonwealth Games

At the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia, Burley won three silver medals as a solo competitor in floor, vault and parallel bars.[6] In the men's team event, he was the last floor performer after teammates Alan Nolet, Richard Ikeda and Travis Romagnoli; in what he would later describe as one of the best performances of his life, he scored 9.55 to secure the gold medal for the Canadian team.[3]

At the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, he won a silver medal in the men's horizontal bar, and a bronze medal in the men's team event.

Pan American Games

Burley won two bronze medals as a solo competitor and one bronze medal with the Canadian team at the 1995 Pan American Games in Mar del Plata, Argentina,[7] and one bronze medal at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Olympics

He competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, but did not win any medals.[8]

Honours

He was named male athlete of the year by Sport New Brunswick in 1997,[3] and by Gymnastics Canada in 1996 and 1998.[3]

Post-competition

Burley announced his retirement from competition in 1999,[3] and subsequently worked as a television production assistant[3] and served on the board of directors of the Association of Canada's National Team Athletes.[1] He worked with Cirque du Soleil for several years as a performer in Alegría and as assistant artistic director of Dralion.[1] He later worked on the communications and media team for Toronto's bid to host the 2015 Pan American Games.[1]

Openly gay,[9] he is also a spokesperson for the Canadian Olympic Committee's program to combat homophobia in sport.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Burley headed to local Hall of Fame". Truro Daily News, October 16, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Ontarians on mat team". Vancouver Sun, May 31, 1996.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Burley decides to retire". The Telegraph-Journal, October 28, 1999.
  4. 1 2 "Young gymnast Burley shines at nationals". The Globe and Mail, May 21, 1990.
  5. ↑ "Burley, Exaltacion put exclamation points on all-around titles". Vancouver Sun, May 29, 1995.
  6. ↑ "High bar the high point for Canadian daredevils". Vancouver Sun, August 23, 1994.
  7. ↑ "Nova Scotian has slim lead". Vancouver Sun, May 25, 1995.
  8. ↑ "Kris Burley". Sports Reference Olympic Sports Database.
  9. 1 2 "Gay ex-Olympic gymnast Kris Burley remembers the isolation, fear". Outsports, December 3, 2014.
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