Kahena Kunze

Born on March 12, 1991, in São Paulo, Brazil, Kahena Kunze developed an early interest in sailing, influenced by her father, Claudio Kunze, a former world champion in the Penguin class. She began her competitive sailing career in the 470 class, demonstrating early potential with a 7th-place finish at the 2010 470 World Championships in The Hague. Her progress continued as she secured an 8th-place finish at the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships in Perth and an 8th-place finish at the 2012 470 World Championships in Barcelona.

Kunze transitioned to the 49er FX class, where she formed a notable partnership with Martine Grael. This collaboration proved highly successful, leading to a silver medal at the 2013 49er & 49er FX World Championships in Marseille. The duo achieved a significant milestone in 2014, winning the gold medal at the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Santander. This victory established them as leading competitors in their class. Their consistent performance also earned them a silver medal at the 2015 49er & 49er FX World Championships in Buenos Aires and a 6th-place finish at the 2016 49er & 49er FX World Championships in Clearwater.

The pinnacle of Kunze’s career arrived at the Olympic Games. She secured her first Olympic gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games in the 49er FX class, alongside Martine Grael. This achievement was successfully repeated at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where they once again claimed gold in the same discipline. Beyond the Olympics, Kunze has continued to achieve top results, including gold medals at the 2019 Lima Pan American Games and the 2023 Santiago Pan American Games, and multiple silver and bronze medals at various World Championships, such as silver in Matosinhos (2017) and Auckland (2019), and bronze in Al-Mussanah (2021).