Ashley McKenzie

Ashley McKenzie (born 17 July 1989) is an English judoka competing at the men's 60 kg division. He was a member of the Great Britain Olympic Judo Team at London 2012 but was defeated in the second round by Hiroaki Hiraoka of Japan. He also appeared in, and made it to the final of Celebrity Big Brother 10 in September 2012. In August 2018, he appeared on the first series of Celebs on the Farm. In January 2020, he appeared on Celebrity Ex on the Beach.

For other uses, see Ashley McKenzie (disambiguation).
Ashley McKenzie
McKenzie at the Our Greatest Team Parade in September 2012
Personal information
NationalityBritish
Born (1989-07-17) 17 July 1989
Queen's Park, Greater London, England
Sport
SportJudo
Event(s)Men's 60 kilograms
Medal record
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
2014 GlasgowMen's 60kg
Representing  United Kingdom
European Judo Championships
2013 BudapestMen's 60kg
2018 Tel Aviv Men's 60 kg
Updated on 1 August 2014.

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.[1]

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.[2]

McKenzie welcomed his first daughter Lana-Rose McKenzie in July 2017 with girlfriend - fellow Judo player and 3 time European champion Automne Pavia.

Ashley is also a brand ambassador for The Money Group, who are sponsoring him for Toyko 2020.

Career

His achievements include winning gold at the British Open in 2008,[3] 2009,[4] 2010,[5] 2012,[6] and 2015.[7] McKenzie's first foray into the European U23 Championships in 2009 resulted in a bronze medal win at Antalya.[8] In 2010, he became the second British athlete in history to be crowned an under-23 European champion when he competed in Sarajevo.[9] In 2011, McKenzie earned bronze and gold in the European Cup competitions within Orenburg[10] and Hamburg,[11] respectively. He was the 2011 Judo World Cup champion within Poland[12] and Great Britain.[13] He also earned bronze at the European Championships 2013 in Budapest.[14] From 2013[15] to 2014,[16] he was the back-to-back champion of the Pan-American Open in Uruguay. McKenzie would then achieve gold in the 2014 Commonwealth Games.[17] He competed at the International Judo Federation Grand Slam 2015 in Tyumen where he won silver.[18] McKenzie won bronze at the International Judo Federation Grand Slam 2016 in Baku.[19]

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.[20]

In May 2019, McKenzie was selected to compete at the 2019 European Games in Minsk, Belarus.[21]

In 2020 he was part of the original cast of the eleventh series of Ex on the Beach UK.

Achievements

Complete list at judoinside.com[22]

Grand SlamAzerbaijan2016Bronze
Grand SlamRussia2015Silver
British OpenUnited Kingdom2015British Champion
Commonwealth GamesScotland2014Gold
Pan-American OpenUruguay2014Gold
Pan-American OpenUruguay2013Gold
European ChampionshipsBudapest2013Bronze
British OpenUnited Kingdom2012British Champion
World CupUnited Kingdom2011Gold
European CupGermany2011Gold
European CupGermany2011Bronze
World CupPoland2011Gold
European U23 ChampionshipsSarajevo2010Gold
British OpenUnited Kingdom2010British Champion
British OpenUnited Kingdom2009British Champion
British Judo Association Annual AwardsUnited Kingdom2009British Junior Male of the Year[23]
European U23 ChampionshipsTurkey2009Bronze
British OpenUnited Kingdom2008British Champion

References
  1. "Olympic 'bad boy' Ashley McKenzie says judo saved him". bbc.co.uk. 20 July 2012.
  2. "'ADHD wrecked my life until I discovered judo' says Commonwealth Games champion Ashley McKenzie". mirror.co.uk. 25 May 2015.
  3. "British Open 2008" (PDF). britishjudo.org.uk. 8 May 2008.
  4. "Olympic Spotlight: Ashley McKenzie". voice-online.co.uk. 1 March 2012. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  5. "2010 LONDON BRITISH OPEN" (PDF). s2.e-monsite.com. 18 May 2010.
  6. "Judo Joy For Team GB". voice-online.co.uk. 14 May 2012. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  7. "British Open: Ashley McKenzie among GB champions". bbc.com. 13 July 2015.
  8. "European Championships U23 2009" (PDF). intjudo.eu. 23 November 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  9. "McKenzie lifts European under-23 title". insidethegames.biz. 20 November 2010.
  10. "European Cup Seniors Orenburg 2011" (PDF). alljudo.net. 24 May 2011.
  11. "Britain claim nine medals at German European Cup". insidethegames.biz. 25 July 2011.
  12. "London 2012 - McKenzie wins gold at Polish World Cup". uk.sports.yahoo.com. 1 March 2011.
  13. "Ashley McKenzie wins gold at Judo GB World Cup". bbc.com. 2 October 2011.
  14. "Britain's Ashley McKenzie wins European judo bronze". bbc.com. 25 April 2013.
  15. "Judo - McKenzie one of three British winners in Montevideo". uk.sports.yahoo.com. 18 March 2013.
  16. "Judo - British judokas McKenzie and Clark shine in Uruguay". uk.sports.yahoo.com. 19 March 2014.
  17. "Gold for McKenzie in -60kg Judo". bbc.com. 1 January 2015.
  18. "IJF Judo Grand Slam Tyumen 2015 Day 1 Recap & Photos". fightnetwork.com. 18 July 2015. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  19. "Alice Schlesinger claims -63kg gold at Baku Grand Slam". bbc.com. 7 May 2016.
  20. "Ashley Mckenzie comes fifth in Celebrity Big Brother". digitalspy.com. 7 September 2012.
  21. "Team GB squad announcement for the European Games". Team GB. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  22. "ASHLEY MCKENZIE - JUDOKA". judoinside.com. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  23. "Ashley McKenzie is thankful he found judo". news.bbc.co.uk. 20 August 2010.
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