Daniel's Story
Daniel Kelly is a four-time Olympian whose record ranks amongst the best in Australian history with 8 senior Australian Championships and 7 Oceania Titles. He made his first national team in 1994 and then his first Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000 where he finished 9th in the U/81kg division. After improving on his debut Olympic result by coming 7th in Athens in 2004 in the U/90kg division, Kelly was knocked out in the first round of the Beijing Olympics to Japanese opponent Hiroshi Izumi.
He became the first Australian judo athlete to compete in four Olympic Games when he was selected as a part of the 2012 Australian Olympic Team. He went on to finish 17th in London after losing his opening match to Ukraine’s Artem Bloshenko in the U/100kg division.
Kelly’s importance to Australian judo was highlighted by the makeup of the Australian judo team that competed in London- his Olympic teammates Carli Renzi, Ivo Dos Santos and Mark Anthony all trained under Kelly and his wife- fellow Olympian Maria Pekli- in Melbourne.
While he didn't compete himself, Kelly coached the Australian judo team at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. He now competes in the UFC and holds a 12-1 MMA record.
