Background
Kelly was born on 6 February 1975 in Casino, New South Wales.
Kelly was born on 6 February 1975 in Casino, New South Wales.
Kelly was educated Street Ursula"s College, Toowoomba. She completed a Bachelor of Sports Management from Griffith University.
Kelly began competing in the PT5 paratriathlon classification in February 2015 when her condition deteriorated to a legally blind state. Kelly has just 30 per cent of her vision. She is one of five siblings, all of whom were heavily into sport.
At the age of five she was diagnosed with poor hearing and subsequently has worn hearing aids.
In her mid-20s diagnosed with Usher Syndrome by that an ophthalmologist. The loss of vision meant that she forfeited her drivers licence.
In January 2015, she was declared legally blind by an ophthalmologist. In 2009, she gained her Masters from the University of Technology Sydney.
Kelly has worked in the sports industry in roles with the National Rugby League, Melbourne Storm, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Stadium, Newcastle Knights, Northern Territory Department Sport and Recreation and Athletics NSW. She has also done pro bono work as media liaison officer for the Australian Blind Cricket Team and was a former media liaison officer for the Australian Deaflympic team at the 2005 Deaflympics that was held in Melbourne and was also a Direct Marketing Association board member.
Kelly now resides in Canberra, Australia where she trains with Head Coach of the Australian Paralympic team, Corey Bacon. Sports Prior to moving into paratriathlon, Kelly was actively involved in sport particularly distance running and ironman events. She has competed in the New York Marathon.
After being diagnosed as legally blind in January 2015, Kelly contacted the Australian Paralympic Committee regarding her eligibility to compete in paratriathlon.
In February 2015, was classified as a vision impaired (PT5) paratriathlete. On 13 March 2015, Kelly placed first at the International Telecommunication Union World Paratriathlon held at the Sunshine Coast, Queensland with her guide Laura Cook.
Kelly completed a 750 m swim, 20 km bike ride and a 5 km run to beat her Japanese rival, Atsuko Yamada with a world-class time of 1:15:26. Two weeks later, Kelly placed first at the National Paratriathlon Championships in Redcliffe on 29 March 2015, with a time of 1:16:59.
These titles led Kelly to be ranked number 13 in the world.
Kelly"s main aim is to make the Australian paratriathlon team for the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Kelly with her guide Michellie Jones won a gold medal at the 2015 International Telecommunication Union World Championships Final. In May 2015 it was confirmed that two-time International Triathlon Union (International Telecommunication Union) world champion, Michellie Jones, would be Kelly"s new guide in the lead up to the 2016 Summer Paralympics. With Jones, she won the World Paratriathlon Event held in Yokohama, Japan on 16 May 2015. Kelly with guide Jones won her their first World Championship title after a come-from-behind victory at the 2015 World Championships Final in Chicago.
