Barbara Kendall - May 2010

Barbara achieved international recognition by winning New Zealand's only gold medal at the 1992 Olympics, the first woman in New Zealand to do so for 40 years.

She is now, 5 Olympics later, an Olympic Gold, Silver and Bronze medalist, quadruple world champion, NZ sports woman of the year 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, has been inducted in International Sailings hall of fame and has a MBE for services to windsurfing.

Barbara has had an amazing sporting career spanning nearly 25 years and having two young children still didn't stop her achieving international success.

She was racing small boats at the age of 12 and attained success in a variety of classes at a national level. At 16 she tried windsurfing as a serious sport and entered her first world competition in 1984. Her last competition was at her 5th Olympics in , 2008.

Her drive and commitment to success are endless. She has numerous world titles to her credit, many being achieved after overcoming many obstacles or adversity. She claimed her first in 1987 when she won the World Production Class Championships in Sweden. Her achievements and dedication to her sport have been widely recognized, firstly being awarded a MBE for services to windsurfing, Sir Bernard Ferguson Trophy Yachts person of the Year Award in 1992, 1999 and New Zealand's Sports Woman of the Year in 1996, 1998 and 1999 and 2002. Inducted into International Sailings Hall of Fame in 2007.

Since 2005 Barbara has been a volunteer as Oceania's representative on the international Olympic Committee Athletes Commission also chairing the Oceanic Athletes Commission and sitting on the Oceania's National Olympic Committee's executive board. At the end of 2009 the International Olympic Committee asked her to sit on the Woman and sport commission, the sport and the environment commission and the World Anti doping agency Athletes commission.

Barbara is the Patron of the Outdoor Pursuits Centre, Motutapu Outdoor Education Camp, and Gulf Harbour Yacht Club, Mother of Two and most importantly a Wife.

Barbara has been motivating and inspiring audiences over the decades with her workshops and keynote presentations. She has been a SPARC sports ambassador since 1997 - working with college sporting students enlightening and educating on what it takes to be the best.

Most recently Barbara was runner up in New Zealand's Dancing with the stars series 5.

From Dance studio and back to the classroom Barbara's latest role is working as an outreach educator in Oceania on Career transition for High performance athletes. This involves putting athletes, coaches and managers through a workshop that empowers them for the future.

Olympic Sailing 1992 Barcelona – Gold Medal (Lechner Women) 1996 – Silver Medal (Mistral Women) 2000 – Bronze Medal (Mistral Women) 2004 – Fifth (Mistral Women) 2008 Beijing – Sixth (RS:X Women) World Championship Medals 1985 ISAF Woman's World Championship, La Rochelle – Bronze Medal 1987 Production World Champion, Sweden – Gold Medal 1990 World Professional Windsurfing Association World tour – Silver Medal 1997 Mistral World Championship, Australia – Bronze Medal 1998 Mistral World Championship, France – Gold Medal 1999 Mistral World Championship, Noumea – Gold Medal 2002 Mistral World Championship, Thailand – Gold Medal 2003 Mistral World Championship, Spain – Silver Medal 2004 Mistral World Championship, Turkey – Silver Medal 2007 RS:X World Championship, Portugal – Silver Medal 2008 RS:X World Championship, New Zealand – Silver Medal Other Major Achievements 1992 New Zealand Sailor of the Year 1992 Awarded MBE 1996 New Zealand Sports Woman of the Year 1998 New Zealand Sailor of the Year 1998 New Zealand Sports Woman of the Year 1999 New Zealand Sports Woman of the Year 2002 New Zealand Sports Woman of the Year 2007 Inducted into ISAF Sailing Hall of Fame .