Kaila McKnight (born 5 May 1986) is an Australian athletics competitor. She represented Australia at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

in the 1500 metres event.

Personal

McKnight was born on 5 May 1986 in Stony Creek near

Foster, Victoria Foster is a dairying and grazing town south-east of Melbourne on the South Gippsland Highway in Victoria, Australia. At the Foster had an urban population of 1,164. It is about north of the Gippsland coastline which includes Shallow Inlet, ...

and is from Victoria. She attended St Laurence's Catholic Primary School in Victoria before going to Mary MacKillop Catholic Regional College for high school. She then went to

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...

from 2007 to 2009 where she earned a Bachelor of Commerce. , she is a teacher an accountant and married. , she lives in the Victorian town of Leongatha. McKnight is tall and weighs .

Athletics

McKnight is a middle-distance runner and is coached by Nic Bideau, who became her coach in 2009. She is also coached by Richard Huggins who became her coach in 1998. She is a member of the Knox Athletics Club. Her events are the 800 metres, 1500 metres, One Mile, 3000 metres, and 5000 metres. McKnight has an athletics scholarship from the

Victorian Institute of Sport The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) is the government-funded sporting institute of the Australian state of Victoria. It provides high performance sports programs for talented athletes, enabling them to achieve national and international succ ...

. She does most of her training in Melbourne and London. Running for the national team, she wears number 53. Her personal best time in the 800 metres is 2:04.04 set in Liége, Belgium on 13 July 2010. Her personal best time in the 1500 metres is 4:05.61 set in Shanghai on 19 May 2012. Her personal best time in the one mile is 4:33.33 set in Cork, Ireland on 17 July 2012. Her personal best time in the 3000 metres is 8:58.46 set in Newcastle, Australia on 29 January 2011. Her personal best time in the 5000 metres is 15:33.77 set in Rovereto on 13 September 2011. At the 2009 Australian National Championships in the 1500 metres, she finished second. At the 2009 World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia, she finished second in the 1500 metres event with a time of 4:16:10. At the 2010 Australian National Championships in the 1500 metres, she finished first. At the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

, she finished fifth in her heats in the 1500 metres event with a time of 4:15.22. At the IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup 2010 on 5 September in the 1500 metres race, she finished ninth with a time of 4:27.40. At the IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup 2010 on 4 September in the 3000 metres race, she finished ninth with a time of 9:24.50. She competed at the 2010 International Sotteville Meeting in France in the 1500 metres event, where she set a personal best. At the 2011 Australian National Championships in the 1500 metres, she finished second. At the 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Daegu on 30 August 2011 in the 1500 metres race, she finished tenth with a time of 4:10.83. At the 39th IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Punta Umbría on 20 March 2011 in the senior race, she finished 69th with a time of 27:59. Prior to the Australian Olympic qualification period, McKnight spent three months competing overseas. At the 2012 Australian National Championships in the 1500 metres, she finished first and first in the 5000 metres event. McKnight was selected to represent Australia at the

in the 1500 metres event, where she will make her Olympic debut. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she reached the semi-finals of the 1500 metres but was eliminated there. She competed at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

, reaching the final.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKnight, Kaila Living people 1986 births Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Australia Sportswomen from Victoria (state) Deakin University alumni Australian female middle-distance runners Victorian Institute of Sport alumni World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes from Melbourne Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade silver medalists for Australia Medalists at the 2009 Summer Universiade 21st-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women