Biography

Kendall was raised at Bucklands Beach and attended Macleans College. She won a gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, silver medal in 1996 (in Atlanta, Georgia), and a bronze medal in 2000 (in Sydney) Kendall finished 5th at the 2004 Games in Athens and sixth at the 2008 Games in Beijing. She was the first, and as of 2008, only woman from New Zealand to compete at five Olympic Games.

During 1998, she had opened/founded Gulf Harbour School, on the coast of Auckland. In 2008, she came back and created a lovely mural for Gulf Harbour School.

Kendall was the Oceania athletes' representative on the International Olympic Committee from 2005 to 2008, having replaced Susie O'Neill who resigned in 2005 (Kendall was the athlete from the same continent who had received the next highest number of votes for the commission), and was on the New Zealand Olympic Committee Athletes Commission until 2008. She was elected an IOC member in July 2011 and now sits on the IOC Athletes Commission, Woman and Sport Commission and Sport and the Environment Commission.

In the 1993 New Year Honours, Kendall was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to boardsailing.

Kendall's brother Bruce is also an Olympic Gold medallist. They are the first brother and sister to have achieved this feat for New Zealand.

Kendall officially retired from competitive board sailing in May 2010.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]