Gregory Burns

Gregory Burns, MFA, PLY (born 1957) is an American athlete, painter, author, motivational speaker and member of Art of the Olympians.

As a competitive swimmer, Burns represented the USA in the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Paralympic Games, winning two gold, two silver and one bronze medal; he has set 5 World records and numerous American records. Retiring from the Paralympics, he transitioned to IronMan events, competing in the Korea and Singapore IronMan events. He has also trekked in the Himalayas, hiked the Grand Canyon, and summited Half Dome in Yosemite, Jade Mountain in Taiwan and Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia.

As a contemporary artist, his paintings have been exhibited in over 80 solo exhibitions and group exhibitions in 15 different countries. Burns has conducted over 40 Artist-in-Residence programs around the globe, one of which was featured on CNN. He is the recipient of the United States Sports Academy’s 2016 Sport Artist of the Year award, (painter). During the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, Gregory was one of six Olympic and Paralympic artists who were commissioned by the Olympic Foundation for Culture & Heritage to create artwork for the ‘Olympic Agora’ which was exhibited throughout Tokyo during the 2021 games, and showcased the connection between sports and art. Gregory’s paintings are now part of the Olympic Museum collection in Lausanne, Switzerland. Burns is also a member of the Olympic Education Commission.

As an author, Burns has published two books in English and one in Mandarin, and has written for numerous magazines.