Kevin McMahon (hammer thrower)

Kevin McMahon
Personal information
Born (1972-05-26) May 26, 1972
San Jose, California, United States
Sport
SportTrack and field
Medal record
Representing  United States
Pan American Games
Silver medal – second place1999 WinnipegHammer throw

Kevin McMahon (born May 26, 1972) is a retired track and field athlete from the United States, who competed in the hammer throw. He is also a successful designer and the founder of the Design Dojo[1] educational organization.

In 1987, McMahon was introduced to the hammer throw by 3-time Olympian and 1984 US Olympic Team Flagbearer, Ed Burke. In 1990, he was the #1 ranked US high school hammer thrower, leading the nation with a mark of 66.80m. As an junior athlete (under 20), McMahon broke the USA Jr. National Record in 1991 in Spokane, WA while competing on the USA Junior National Track and Field Team.

As a collegiate athlete, McMahon compete for Georgetown University from 1991-1995 where he was coached by 7x World Record Holder and 1956 Olympic Gold Medalist, Hal Connolly. McMahon finished his collegiate career as a 6-time NCAA All-American (3x Indoors, 3x Outdoors). At the NCAA Outdoor Championships, McMahon finished in 2nd in 1992 and 3rd in 1995. McMahon graduated with honors in 1994 with BA degrees in English and Fine Arts.[2] At graduation, McMahon was named the Robert A. Duffy Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He later also earned an MA in Liberal Studies from Georgetown. In 2015, McMahon was inducted into the Georgetown University Hall of Fame. His best collegiate marks in the hammer throw of 74.70m remains the record for both Georgetown University and the Big East Conference.[3] [4]

As a senior athlete, McMahon finished in the top 3 at the USA Track and Field National Championships 11 times (1993-2002, 2008).[5] He was the USA National Champion in the hammer throw in 1997 and 2001.[6] McMahon represented Team USA on 16 occasions including the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics, the 1995, 1997, 1999, and 2001 World Athletic Championships, and the 1999 Pan American Games where McMahon earned a silver medal.

After his athletic career, McMahon found equal success as a creative professional. His portfolio includes a wide range of work (logos, fonts, motion graphics, illustration) for a broad range of companies, most notably for Adobe - serving as the lead artist on for Adobe Character Animator, Adobe Express, and Project Primrose.) His collection of animated GIFs has reached nearly 1 billion views.[7]

As a design educator, McMahon has been a member of the Faculty of Fine Arts at his alma mater Bellarmine College Preparatory since 1998 .[8][9] In 2010, McMahon founded the Design Dojo, and educational resource serving over 2000 design teachers worldwide with unique education videos, design challenges, and other learning resources.[10] His YouTube videos have reached over 1 million views.[11]

McMahon is also a member of Art of the Olympians (AOTO) [12]

Achievements

YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
Representing the  United States
1991 Pan American Junior Championships Kingston, Jamaica 3rd 59.48 m
1995 World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 28th 69.14 m
1996 Olympic Games Atlanta, Georgia, United States 24th 73.46 m
1997 World Championships Athens, Greece 23rd 72.42 m
1999 Pan American Games Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 2nd 73.41 m
World Championships Seville, Spain 19th 74.62 m
2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 36th 69.48 m
2001 World Championships Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 17th 75.62 m

References

  1. ↑ "DESIGN DOJO". DESIGN DOJO. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  2. ↑ "WashingtonPost.com: For Georgetown's McMahon, It's Hammer Time". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2015-10-16.
  3. ↑ "2025-26 Record Book | Men's Outdoor Field Records". Georgetown University Athletics. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  4. ↑ "Outdoor Track Record Book (5/7) (PDF) - Big East Conference" (PDF). www.bigeast.com. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  5. ↑ "History of US Nationals Results: Hammer Throw - Men". Track & Field News. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  6. ↑ "History of US Nationals Results: Hammer Throw - Men". Track & Field News. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  7. ↑ "kmac GIFs on GIPHY - Be Animated". giphy.com. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  8. ↑ Bellarmine College Faculty List Archived 2011-10-05 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  9. ↑ http://www.dyestatcal.com/ATHLETICS/TRACK/ccsalltm.htm Archived 2010-02-28 at the Wayback Machine Dyestatcal
  10. ↑ "Design Dojo". Payhip. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
  11. ↑ Art Heroes (2015-09-04). The Principles of Design. Retrieved 2026-06-29 – via YouTube.
  12. ↑ "FEATURED ARTISTS". An Al Oerter Foundation Initiative. Retrieved 2026-06-29.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.