KUNZE Kahena

12 Mar 1991
30
Female
SAO PAULO
 
Brazil
SAO PAULO
 
Brazil

Events and Medals

Discipline Event Rank Medal
SAL Sailing Women's Skiff - 49er FX 1 Gold Medal

Schedule

Change
Start Time Location Event Status
Enoshima
Finished
Followed by
Enoshima
Finished
Followed by
Enoshima
Finished
Sagami
Finished
Followed by
Sagami
Finished
Followed by
Sagami
Finished
Kamakura
Finished
Followed by
Kamakura
Finished
Followed by
Kamakura
Finished
Kamakura
Finished
Followed by
Kamakura
Finished
Followed by
Kamakura
Finished
Enoshima
Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

:
Olympic Games
RankEventYearLocation
149er FX2016Rio de Janeiro, BRA

World Championships
RankEventYearLocation
149er FX2014Santander, ESP
449er FX2018Aarhus, DEN

Class World Championships
RankEventYearLocation
249er FX2019Auckland, NZL
249er FX2017Porto, POR
249er FX2015Buenos Aires, ARG
249er FX2013Marseille, FRA
1249er FX2020Geelong, VIC, AUS

Pan American Games
RankEventYearLocation
149er FX2019Lima, PER

Class European Championships
RankEventYearLocation
149er FX2019Weymouth, GBR

World Cup
RankEventYearLocation
149er FX2019Miami, FL, USA
149er FX2019Enoshima, JPN
149er FX2017Santander, ESP
149er FX2017Hyeres, FRA
149er FX2017Miami, FL, USA
649er FX2020Enoshima, JPN
649er FX2019Genoa, ITA
:
Athlete, Serves in the Navy
:
Environmental Engineering - Pontifical Catholic University, Rio de Janeiro, BRA
:
English, German, Portuguese, Spanish
:
Javier Torres [national], ESP
:
Her father Claudio represented Brazil in sailing, and won gold in the Penguin class at the 1973 World Junior Championships. Her uncle Claudio Biekarck claimed 10 medals in sailing at the Pan American Games between 1975 and 2019. (SportsDeskOnline, 14 Jan 2020; panamsports.org, 07 Oct 2019; folha.uol.com.br, 19 Aug 2016; nossagente.net, 04 Feb 2016)
:
She took up the sport in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (folhape.com.br, 25 Jul 2019)
:
She was born into a family of sailing enthusiasts. (folhape.com.br, 25 Jul 2019)
:
Brazilian Formula One racer Ayrton Senna, Brazilian sailors Torben Grael and Robert Scheidt. (cob.org.br, 01 Aug 2015)
:
"Every morning in Africa, the antelope awakens. It knows it'll have to outrun the fastest of the lions to avoid being killed. Every morning, the lion awakens. It knows it'll have to outrun the slowest of the antelopes so it doesn't starve to death. It doesn't matter if you're a lion or an antelope. When dawn comes, you have to start running." (cob.org.br, 01 Aug 2015)
:
She and her crewmate Martine Grael were flag bearers for Brazil at the opening ceremony of the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. (globoesporte.globo.com, 10 Aug 2019; diarinho.com.br, 23 Jul 2019)

Together with Martine Grael, she was named the 2014 Female World Sailor of the Year by the International Sailing Federation [ISAF]. (olympictalk.nbcsports.com, 22 Apr 2015; sailing.org, 2014)

In 2014 she and Martine Grael were named Brazilian Female Athletes of the Year and received the Olympic Brazil Award from the Brazilian Olympic Committee. (folhape.com.br, 25 Jul 2019; Rede Nacional do Esporte YouTube channel, 19 Dec 2014)

General Interest

General
CREWMATE
She and her crewmate Martine Grael first met at age 13, when they sailed against each other in the Optimist class. Years later they began competing together in the 420 class, becoming junior world champions in 2009. After a three-year break, in which Kunze focused on her degree in engineering, the pair began competing together in the 49er FX class and went on to win gold at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. However, they later revealed that they had experienced problems during the four-year period leading up to the Games, and had enlisted a psychologist to ensure they avoided misunderstandings on the water. "We got to know each other better. We were friends, but we had no notion of [living with each other] 24 hours a day. We noticed things about each other and we worked on that." (members.sailing.org, 01 Aug 2019; folhape.com.br, 26 Jul 2019; folha.uol.com.br, 19 Aug 2016)

Legend
:
Gold Medal
:
Gold Medal Event
:
Silver Medal Event
:
Bronze Medal Event
Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos