Alyce Wood Burnett, 31, is a well-known Australian canoeist who is currently qualified for the Paris Olympics in 2024. Previously she competed in the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Australian Canoeist Alyce Wood Burnett Qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024
The Australian Olympic team for the 2024 Paris Olympics has announced that Alyce Wood Burnett will be competing in the upcoming Paris Olympics. Eight months after having her first child, a daughter named Florence, Alyce Wood, who has competed in two previous Olympics, returned to competition.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Alyce made it to the final of the women’s K-1 500m event and finished in eighth place. However, she does not want people to say she “bounced back” after having a child. She says the idea of “bouncing back” makes it seem like she did not put in effort or make sacrifices, and that she just snapped her fingers and was back to her previous level.
Throughout her pregnancy, Alyce volunteered to be a case study observed by Dr. Hayman in order to provide more understanding of what an elite athlete’s body goes through while training during pregnancy.
“I just wanted to make sure training was as safe as possible for Florence.”
Alyce said
Alyce Wood Burnett’s siblings and early life
Alyce Wood Burnett was born on August 11, 1992. She is an Australian who competes in canoeing. Alyce grew up on the Sunshine Coast with her younger brother Clayton Burnett and sister April Burnett. Her father’s name is Harry Burnett.
In 2013, Alyce moved to the Gold Coast to train at the Australian Institute of Sport. However, she still has strong connections to the Sunshine Coast. She races in kayak events for the Sunshine Coast Paddle Sports Club and competes in ski events for the Maroochydore Surf Life Saving Club.
Wood posted a picture with her sister April Burnett on social media, congratulating April on her graduation.
Alyce Wood Burnett is happily married to Jordan Wood
Alyce Wood Burnett is happily married to Jordan Wood on October 30, 2019, who is also a kayaker and has competed in the Olympics. Their shared passion for paddling has made it a family activity, as Alyce is coached by her mother-in-law Anna Wood, who is an Olympic medal winner.
Alyce and Jordan got married in October 2019, Alyce posted a picture of herself kissing Jordan on Instagram. Alycee first announced her pregnancy with Jordan on December 13, 2021, and later she also uploaded her baby bump on . Later that year, the couple had their beautiful daughter Florence after that.
On June 25, 2022, Alyce posted the first picture of herself with her daughter Florence on Instagram.
Alyce sees opportunities in Kayaking at the age of 16
Alyce Wood saw opportunities in kayaking. She first tried kayaking at age 16 at the Sunshine Coast Paddle Sports Club. At first, she was not very eager to do kayaking, but she started it to help improve her paddling skills for surf lifesaving.
After getting through the initial learning stage of kayaking, different opportunities opened up for Alyce. Her hobbies included surf lifesaving, shopping, and news. In 2013, at her first club Sunshine Coast Paddle Sports, she was coached by Anna Wood.
Alyce’s first major international competition was the World Cup 3 event in Duisburg, Australia. At the 2014 Under-23 World Championships, she won her first international medal in the K1 500m event.
Also Read: Meet Australian Sprint Canoeist, Jean van der Westhuyzen
In addition to her athletic pursuits, Alyce has completed a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Griffith University.
As a two-time Olympian and world champion, Alyce Wood represents the vision of the High-Performance 2032+ Strategy. Just one year after having her beautiful daughter Florence, Alyce has set her sights on competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She has the support of Paddle Australia, her coaches, and fellow athletes.
To compete at next year’s Paris Olympics, Alyce remained extremely active during her pregnancy. The 31-year-old utilized resources from the Australian Institute of Sport’s Female Performance & Health Initiative. She worked with Melanie Hayman from Central Queensland University, who led the development of the 2020 Australian Exercise During Pregnancy Guidelines.
Alyce Professional Paddling Career
Alyce won her first World Championships title in 2017 in the K1 1000m event.
Between 2018 2019, she obtained many World Cup medals, including gold in the K1 5000m at the 2019 Duisburg (Germany) World Cup, silver in the K4 500m at the 2018 Szeged (Hungary) World Cup, bronze in the K1 5000m at the 2018 Duisburg World Cup, as well as gold in the K1 5000m at the 2019 Duisburg World Cup.
At the 2019 World Championships, Alyce was part of the K4 500m team with Aly, Robert, and Bridget-Jones, and they secured four quota spots for Australia by finishing seventh.
At the Rio Olympics, Alyce and her partner made it to the A-Finals of the K2 500m by finishing third in their semi-final race. In the final, they came in eighth place with a time of 1:51.915.
Four years after their upset performance, Alyce and Aly were the favorites going into the Australian selection trials for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The pair dominated both nomination events, winning the K2 500m at the Australian and Oceania Championships. Alyce also proved her individual strength by claiming gold in the K1 500m at both events.
Eight months after her daughter Florence was born, Alyce returned to competition. Her return to paddling has been successful, and in 2023, she secured a quota spot for Australia at Paris in the K1 500m by finishing fifth at the world championships.
Alongside her athletic career, Alyce now runs a digital marketing business that specializes in implementing successful marketing strategies for small businesses.
