John Fennell

{{short description|American-Canadian luger|bot=PearBOT 5}}

{{about||the British historian|John Lister Illingworth Fennell|the British artist, naturalist and angler|John Greville Fennell}}

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name = John Fennell

| image = 2017-12-01 Luge Nationscup Men Altenberg by Sandro Halank–048.jpg

| image_size =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|May 28, 1995}}

| birth_place = Evergreen, Colorado, U.S.

| sport = Luge

| country = {{USA}}

| headercolor = lightsteelblue

| show-medals = n

| medaltemplates =

}}

John Fennell (born May 28, 1995) is an American-Canadian luger who has competed since 2011.[http://www.luge.ca/en/team/?id=56 John Fennell at Canada Luge]

He competed for Canada in the first-ever Youth Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, where he finished 7th, and at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia,[http://www.calgarysun.com/2013/12/17/calgarys-john-fennell-makes-first-olympic-luge-team Calgary's John Fennell makes first Olympic luge team] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224114942/http://www.calgarysun.com/2013/12/17/calgarys-john-fennell-makes-first-olympic-luge-team |date=2013-12-24 }}. Calgary Sun, December 17, 2013. finishing 27th.

He is the son of former Canadian Football League player Dave Fennell and mother Lynne Fennell.[https://leaderpost.com/sports/Luger+John+Fennell+tells+world/9883498/story.html "Luger John Fennell tells the world he's gay"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529052750/http://www.leaderpost.com/sports/Luger%2BJohn%2BFennell%2Btells%2Bworld/9883498/story.html |date=2014-05-29 }}. Regina Leader-Post, May 28, 2014.{{cite web| url = http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/olympian-wants-to-help-tackle-homophobia-in-sport-ahead-of-pride-parade-1.2749943| title = Olympian wants to help tackle homophobia in sport ahead of pride parade {{!}} CBC News}} His brother David Fennell Jr. played fullback on the Michigan State football team.{{Cite web |url=http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/david_fennell_810670.html |title=David Fennell Bio - Michigan State Official Athletic Site |access-date=2018-01-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140530002541/http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/david_fennell_810670.html |archive-date=2014-05-30 |url-status=dead }}

In May 2014, several months after competing at Sochi, Fennell came out as gay.

Fennell competed well at the Sochi Olympics, but since he did not finish in the top 10. As a result, in order to fulfil his funding needs, Fennell launched a fundraising campaign on the sports crowdfunding platform MAKEACHAMP on December 12, 2014.

In 2016, Fennell took advantage of his dual Canadian-U.S. citizenship and competed for a spot on the U.S. National team. However, during the 2018 U.S. Olympic trials, he crashed his sled and did not make the Olympic team.{{cite web | url=https://www.outsports.com/2017/12/14/16778420/john-fennell-olympic-gay-luge-usa | title=Olympian John Fennell's 2018 hopes just ended in the worst way, and he could use a hug | date=14 December 2017 }}