FERNON Edward

General
RETIREMENT AND RETURN
He retired from modern pentathlon in 2015 in order to concentrate on his family and business ambitions. In mid-2019 his coach Dean Gleeson approached him about a possible return to the sport, and in August 2019 he announced his return to modern pentathlon with a view to competing at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "It's a surreal experience to be back. The Olympics is what drives me on all those difficult training days when you're sore and you're tired, you don't want to get out of bed. Knowing that you've got the Olympics there is incredibly motivating. I've come back as a much more mature athlete, I've got two young boys, I've got a business and a lot more going on than in 2012 [London Olympics]. I'm much more aware this time that the Olympics is about so much more than just my performance, it's such an opportunity to inspire other people, including friends and family, to know that they can go out and achieve their goals." (olympics.com.au, 22 Jan 2020; insidethegames.biz, 30 Jan 2020; escarpmentsestate.com.au, 01 Jan 2018; olympics.com.au, 12 Dec 2019)

FAVOURITE DISCIPLINE
His favourite discipline is equestrian jumping, a skill he picked up riding horses on his family's property in Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia. "My favourite discipline is definitely horse riding. As a young child we had a farm in Wagga Wagga, I couldn't wait to get down there on school holidays to ride and I went jackarooing [working as an agricultural apprentice] in north Queensland when I left school, riding's always been a real passion of mine." (olympics.com.au, 22 Jan 2020)

OCCUPATION
He is the managing director of Freedom Development Group, a property development company based in Sydney, NSW, Australia. He is also a development partner in Escarpment Estate, a housing development in the Blue Mountains in Katoomba, NSW, Australia. (LinkedIn profile, 2020; escarpmentsestate.com.au, 01 Jan 2018)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
He has served as vice-president of Sydney University Sport, vice-president of Modern Pentathlon Oceania and is an ambassador for the Black Dog Institute, a facility for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mood disorders based in Sydney, NSW, Australia. (LinkedIn profile, 2020)

EXPEDITIONS
In August 2017 he won the Mongol Derby, a 1000 kilometre equestrian endurance race across Mongolia. He has also completed an expedition to the summit of Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, and completed a 1100 kilometre horse trek from Braidwood to Melbourne across the Snowy Mountains mountain range in New South Wales, Australia, raising over 55,000 Australian dollars for the Black Dog Institute. "It's incredibly challenging, riding across Mongolia for 10 days with 28 semi-wild Mongol horses. I brought all the things I had learnt through modern pentathlon to this challenge, and was able to win the race in a new record time. I've learnt so much about how to find comfort in the discomfort. I've been able to put myself into these difficult pressure environments and realised nothing can happen to me which I can't handle." (LinkedIn profile, 2020; olympics.com.au, 22 Jan 2020)