Kah, Danny

BORN MAY 5TH 1967 in Two Wells, South Australia, he celebrated his fifth birthday at a skating rink. He kept going back every week to chase his cousins around, then joined the local speed skating club. He progressed quickly to win the senior Australian Championship at 15, against much older competition. Recruited to the national team that year, he went to Japan as a reserve but did not compete in the individual events, although he was the fastest skater. He skated in the relay team which finished second.

At the next Worlds he placed 3rd in the 1500, 4th in the 3000 and 6th overall, over the four distances. "I had a really good future in short-track but the problem was that short-track was not an Olympic sport back then. To get to the Olympics which is what I really wanted to do, I had to go long-track. Now, long-track’s the one on the 400 meter track where the two guys skate together and swap sides. Back then it was a bigger stage and a lot more competitive". It took 4 or 5 years to get through the ranks in long track, aided by an excellent short track technique.

Although he achieved his best Olympic result of 10th in the 5,000m at the 1988 Calgary Olympics, “…’91 was probably my best season, I couldn’t put a foot wrong, I was training really well, skating really well, got 6th at the World Championships, 6th and 7th in two different distances. I was on the cusp of where medals territory is. The next year I upped the training again a bit more and blew it. Over-trained, went on a slippery slope and actually really had a hard time”.

He returned to the 1992 Games in Albertville where he carried the Australian flag in the Opening Ceremony, and finished in 12th place in the 10km on outdoor ice. "I wanted to hit one more Olympics and really give it a good go". He finished 25/44 in the 1500m and 25/32 in the 5000m. He retired from speed skating that year, and still holds the 5000m and 10000m national records.

Kah won the Australian Short Track championship several times between 1983 and 1992. His sons, Skyler and Joshua Kah, raced in their first Short Track World Cup in Dresden in 2017. Danny designed, patented, prototyped, tested and produced the Kah Precision Skate Gauge that enables a very accurate and repeatable digital check of the radius (vertical curvature) and bend (horizontal curvature). Data on the skate is downloadable to a computer to produce a graphical representation of the blade's properties.

A qualified civil engineer, Kah and his brother John were also good ice hockey players and Danny represented his country. He cycles competitively and he has been a National Masters Cycling Champion several times as a member of the Charter Mason’s Masters Racing team. All up, he spent eight seasons in European winters, returning home for the Australian winters. Inducted to the Australian Ice Racing Hall of Fame, Danny’s brother John and John’s wife Karen competed at the 1992 and 1994 Games in short track speed skating.


Video: Danny Kah, 1992 Winter Games Long Track 1000m