Ashley McKenzie

Ashley McKenzie

McKenzie at the Our Greatest Team Parade in September 2012
Personal information
Nationality	British/Jamaica
Born	17 July 1989 Queen's Park, Greater London, England
Occupation	Judoka
Sport
Country	Great Britain (until 2022) Jamaica (since 2023)
Sport	Judo
Weight class	–60 kg
Achievements and titles
Olympic Games	R16 (2016)
World Champ.	R16 (2014)
European Champ.	(2013, 2018)
Commonwealth Games	(2014, 2022)
Medal record Men's judo Representing Great Britain European Championships 2013 Budapest ‍–‍60 kg 2018 Tel Aviv ‍–‍60 kg IJF Grand Slam 2015 Tyumen ‍–‍60 kg 2016 Baku ‍–‍60 kg 2018 Paris ‍–‍60 kg IJF Grand Prix 2017 The Hague ‍–‍60 kg 2019 Zagreb ‍–‍60 kg 2019 Perth ‍–‍60 kg 2013 Miami ‍–‍60 kg 2014 Havana ‍–‍60 kg 2017 Cancún ‍–‍60 kg 2018 Zagreb ‍–‍60 kg 2019 Antalya ‍–‍60 kg European U23 Championships 2010 Sarajevo ‍–‍60 kg 2009 Antalya ‍–‍60 kg European Junior Championships 2007 Prague ‍–‍60 kg European Cadet Championships 2005 Salzburg ‍–‍50 kg Representing England Commonwealth Games 2014 Glasgow ‍–‍60 kg 2022 Birmingham ‍–‍60 kg Representing Jamaica Central American and Caribbean Games 2023 San Salvador ‍–‍60 kg
Profile at external databases
IJF	86, 73881
JudoInside.com	31875
Updated on 28 June 2023.

Ashley McKenzie (born 17 July 1989) is an England-born Jamaican judoka competing at the men's 60 kg division. He was a member of the Great Britain Olympic Judo Team at London 2012 but was defeated in the second round by Hiroaki Hiraoka of Japan. He also appeared in, and made it to the final of Celebrity Big Brother 10 in September 2012. In August 2018, he appeared on the first series of Celebs on the Farm. In January 2020, he appeared on Celebrity Ex on the Beach.

Personal life

McKenzie was born in Queen's Park, London. He is mixed-race. He was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at an early age.

McKenzie was first exposed to judo at the age of 11, when he got into a fight with a boy who stole his Charizard Pokémon card. Determined to get it back he joined the Moberly Judo Club where he met his assailant by chance. He eventually got his card back after befriending the boy.

McKenzie welcomed his first daughter Lana-Rose McKenzie in July 2017 with girlfriend - fellow Judo player and 3 time European champion Automne Pavia.

Ashley is also a brand ambassador for The Money Group, who are sponsoring him for Tokyo 2020.

Career

His achievements include winning gold at the British Open in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2015. McKenzie's first foray into the European U23 Championships in 2009 resulted in a bronze medal win at Antalya. In 2010, he became the second British athlete in history to be crowned an under-23 European champion when he competed in Sarajevo. In 2011, McKenzie earned bronze and gold in the European Cup competitions within Orenburg and Hamburg, respectively. He was the 2011 Judo World Cup champion within Poland and Great Britain. He also earned bronze at the European Championships 2013 in Budapest. From 2013 to 2014, he was the back-to-back champion of the Pan-American Open in Uruguay. McKenzie would then achieve gold in the 2014 Commonwealth Games. He competed at the International Judo Federation Grand Slam 2015 in Tyumen where he won silver. McKenzie won bronze at the International Judo Federation Grand Slam 2016 in Baku.

On 15 August 2012, McKenzie entered the Celebrity Big Brother 10 reality TV series. After 24 days McKenzie made it to the final and finished in fifth place.

In May 2019, McKenzie was selected to compete at the 2019 European Games in Minsk, Belarus.

In 2020 he was part of the original cast of the eleventh series of Ex on the Beach UK. In 2023, McKenzie competed on the reality-competition series The Challenge UK.

In 2023, McKenzie switched allegiances to Jamaica and captured a silver medal at the 2023 CAC Games.

Achievements

Complete list at judoinside.com