Edward Fernon

Fast Facts

Sport: Modern Pentathlon
Olympic History: London 2012, Tokyo 2020
Highlights: Retiring for four years, then training for 12 weeks and achieving Tokyo 2020 qualification at the Asian Oceania Championships in 2019.
Coach: Dean Gleeson
Club: Sydney University
Year Born: 1988
State Born: Darlinghurst, NSW

About Edward

Sydneysider Edward (Ed) Fernon always dreamt of competing at the Olympics and set himself the challenge of modern pentathlon.

Having never tried fencing or shooting before, and with a fair amount of improving to do in the swim leg, Fernon set his mind to task while studying at Sydney University and gained selection for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Ranked 111th in the world going into the Games, Fernon posted one of the fastest final run times for a credible 27th in the grueling event.

Experiences in his youth, including riding horses in the country and working as a jackaroo, have shaped Fernon’s interesting and diverse life.

A city kid, Fernon spent every school holidays on a friend’s farm near Wagga Wagga, where he learned to ride horses. After graduating from St Ignatius College, Fernon took a gap year, where he spent 12 months jackarooing in far North Queensland. 

In 2007 he commenced a Bachelor of Commerce at Sydney University and combined his interest in horse racing and running background from school days with three new sports – fencing, shooting and swimming.

He started competing regularly in Modern Pentathlon after a stern conversation with his coach Daniel Esposito, father of Rio 2016 gold medallist Chloe Esposito in 2007, Fernon committed himself solely to Modern Pentathlon.

In 2009 he won his first national title, then two years later, he claimed the Oceania title and qualified for his Olympic debut in London where he placed 27th.

Following London 2012, Fernon completed a solo, five-week, 1100km horse trek, following the path of the first Melbourne Cup winner Archer, from Braidwood over the Snowy Mountains to Melbourne.

The ride raised over $55,000 for the Black Dog Institute as well as awareness of depression in rural areas. 

Fernon continued to train and compete for Australia until his retirement at the World Championships in 2015. 

After his retirement, Fernon had a large void in his life. Sport had provided him a focus, so he sought out some activities to challenge himself.

In 2016, he embarked on a three-week expedition to the summit of Mount Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Southern Hemisphere.

After suffering terrible weather and altitude sickness, Ed became the only member of his expedition to reach the summit.

The following year, he competed in the Mongol Derby, the longest and toughest horse race in the world. The race spans 1000km across the Mongolian steppe and required each competitor to ride 28 semi-wild Mongolian horses.

Most years only half of the competitors finish the race. Fernon not only finished the race, but also won, setting a new race record in the process.

Following four years of retirement in August 2019, Fernon made the decision to try to qualify for his second Olympics after the encouragement of his coach, Dean Gleeson and wife Phillipa.

He had a 12-week training program prior to the Olympic trials, which were held in Wuhan, China on 12 November 2019.

Fernon won the show jumping event, had a strong fence and performed well in the combined run/shoot event and went on to win the Oceania qualification spot for Tokyo 2020.

Nine years after he first represented Australia on the Olympic stage, Fernon returned to Olympic competition at Tokyo where he finished 31st overall. He started the Fencing ranking round with three quick wins, including victory against the 2019 World Champion. Cramping later in the day put him on the back foot for the rest of the competition and he finished the Fencing ranking round with nine victories. On the second day of competition, Fernon had solid performances in the swimming, fencing and show jumping rounds. His swim leg was one second off his personal best (from 2013) and almost three seconds quicker than the time he posted in London. In the final Laser Run, Fernon struggled on two of the four trips, unable to match the fast-running tempo of those ahead of him and he finished with a total of 1309 points.

The decision to compete at Tokyo was not without sacrifice for Fernon and his family as he missed the birth of his third child due to serving two weeks of mandatory quarantine upon return to Australia.

A community-minded person, when not competing on the international stage, Fernon raised funds and built awareness for rural mental health and is currently working to reduce loneliness and make rental accommodation more flexible and affordable.