Meet n' Greet with 4-Time Olympian and Elite Triathlete Hunter Kemper

Hunter Kemper

• 4 Time Olympian
• 7 Time US Elite National Champion

Hunter Kemper, a Lake Brantley High School grad, is the most decorated U.S. triathlete in history. A four-time member of the USA Olympic triathlon team, he is one of only two men in the world to qualify for every Olympic triathlon (2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012) and the only man in the world to complete all four.

Kemper has won seven USA Triathlon Elite National Championships. In 2005, he became the first U.S. male triathlete to finish the season ranked No. 1 in the world and was selected as the U.S Olympic Committee Sportsman of the Year, joining the ranks of Olympic legends such as Michael Phelps and Michael Johnson. That year, he also received the prestigious Jim Thorpe All-Around Award. Other career highlights include earning the gold medal at the Pan Am Games (2003) and gracing the cover of a Wheaties box four times.

A competitive swimmer by the age of six, Kemper entered his first IronKids triathlon at age 10 and won his age division race. He went on to win five consecutive IronKids national championships before attending Wake Forest University, where he was a four-year letter winner in cross country and track. He captured the USA Triathlon Amateur National Championship in 1997 and turned pro the next year.

Kemper’s stellar career in triathlon is a testament to the power of hard work, determination and perseverance. On more than one occasion, he has battled back from devastating illness or injury – including a shattered elbow and subsequent staph infection that kept him out of action for several months in 2011-12 – to turn in an outstanding race performance when it mattered most. He continues to compete at the highest level of the sport and is eyeing a bid for a record-breaking fifth U.S. Olympic Team berth in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. 
A devoted family man, Kemper and his wife, Val, are the parents of three young sons, with a fourth child due this fall. His love for kids and his desire to help them achieve their goals led him to accept a role as the official ambassador for the 2013 Hy-Vee IronKids Midwest Series of 20 youth triathlons, leading up to the Hy-Vee IronKids U.S. Championship on August 31 in Des Moines, Iowa. Kemper is also a dedicated Christian. “God has blessed me in so many ways. My prayer is that I will never be afraid to honor Him in all that I do.”
 
 
http://www.hunterkemper.com/