Donald Sanford (athlete)

Last updated

Donald Blair-Sanford
Donald Sanford at European Championships Helsinki 2013-03.jpg
Personal information
Full nameDonald Eugene Blair-Sanford
NicknameDBS
CitizenshipAmerican–Israeli
Born (1987-02-05) February 5, 1987 (age 36)
Los Angeles, California
Alma mater
Height1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) [1]
Weight80 kg (180 lb) [1]
SpouseDanielle Dekel
Sport
CountryFlag of Israel.svg  Israel
SportAthletics
Event 400m
Club Maccabi Tel Aviv
Coached by Lloyd Cowan
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 400m; 45.04 seconds
Medal record
Representing Flag of Israel.svg Israel
European Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2014 Zürich 400 m
European Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2015 Baku Mixed team
Representing Europe
Continental Cup
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2014 Marrakech 4 × 400 m relay
Updated on October 10, 2015.

Donald Eugene Blair-Sanford (born February 5, 1987) is an American-Israeli Olympic sprinter, who specialises in the 400 metre dash.

Contents

His personal record at 400 metres is 45.04 seconds. He represented Israel in the 2012 Summer Olympics. He won the bronze medal in 400 metres at the 2014 European Athletics Championships, with a new Israeli record of 45.27 seconds. Competing for Israel at the 2015 European Games, Sanford won with a time of 45.75.

Early life

Sanford was born, one of four children, in Inglewood in Los Angeles County, California, to Donald E. Sanford Jr. and Debra Blair, who had run track in high school. [2] [3] He attended City Honors High School in Inglewood but competed for Morningside High School. [4] He won the 400m dash at the California Interscholastic Federation Division III Championships, and was a member of the National Honor Society. [5]

He competed for one season at Morgan State University, running a season-best time of 46.92 to place second at the IC4A Championships. [5]

Donald Sanford DonaldSanford DSC2961 799 1200.jpg
Donald Sanford

He became an Israeli citizen after marrying Israeli basketball player Danielle Dekel, whom he met when they were both students at Central Arizona College where she was playing basketball for the school. [2] [6] He earned an associate degree at Central Arizona in 2007, where he ran on two NJCAA Outdoor Championship teams (in 2006 and 2007). [5]

He also studied at Arizona State University, which he represented in athletic competitions within the United States, [5] and set his 400m personal record of 45.21 seconds. He was the 2010 NCAA runner-up at 400 meters and was part of the 4×400-meter indoor and outdoor relays that season, and was named an All-American. [7]

Achievements

Sanford's club is Maccabi Tel Aviv, and he is coached by Lloyd Cowan. [1]

In 2012, Sanford represented Israel for the first time at a major sporting event, finishing 4th at the European Athletic Championships, held in Helsinki, nine-hundredths of a second away from a medal at 45.91 seconds. [8]

A little over a month later, he ran in the 2012 Summer Olympics. His shoes were stolen from his bag just ahead of his qualifying heat, and he had to run in a teammate's shoes. [9] [10] He finished fifth in a time of 45.71 seconds, in a race won by double-amputee South African Oscar Pistorius, and did not make it out of the qualifying rounds. [11] [12] He was ranked 26th, two places and one-tenth of a second behind the runners who qualified for the semifinals. [13]

At the 2013 Maccabiah Games, Sanford broke the Israeli record and won the gold medal in the 400 meter race with a time of 45.65, defeating Australian Olympic finalist Steven Solomon. [14]

In 2014, Sanford won the bronze medal in the 400 metres sprint at the European Athletic Championships held in Zurich on August 15, 2014, with a new Israeli record of 45.27 seconds. [15] He dedicated his medal to the Israel Defense Forces. [15] He was the second Israeli to win a medal at the European Athletic Championships, after Alex Averbukh won gold medals in the pole vault in 2002 and 2006. [15] [16]

In December 2014, he was named Israeli Sportsman of the Year. [17]

In June 2015, competing for Israel at the 2015 European Games, Sanford won the 400 m in 45.75, a European Games record, as Team Israel won a bronze medal. [18] [19]

Sanford competed for Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He ran the 400m and finished in 5th place in his heat in a time of 46.06, 10 split-seconds behind the semi-final qualifying time, and placed 33rd overall. [20]

Personal life

Sanford and his wife, Israeli native Danielle Dekel-Sanford, married in 2008, and live in Kibbutz Ein Shemer about an hour north of Tel Aviv with their children, Amerie Ann and Rylee. [8] [3] His wife's father, Ehud Dekel, was the first Israeli to compete in four different sports in Israel’s highest sports league, the First League. [3] His older sister, Donnisha "CoCoa" Sanford was a member of the 2004 Pac-10 regular-season championship team for the University of Arizona women's basketball team. She also played professional basketball overseas from 2009-2012.

Personal bests

DistanceTimePlaceDate
400m 45.21 sec Eugene, Oregon June 13, 2010
400m 45.27 sec Zürich, Switzerland August 15, 2014
400m 45.04 sec Meteor Stadium, Zhukovsky July 19, 2015

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">400 metres hurdles</span> Track and field hurdling event

The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerron Clement</span> American track and field athlete

Kerron Stephon Clement is a Trinidadian-born American track and field athlete who competes in the 400-meter hurdles and 400-meter sprint. He held the indoor world record in the 400-meter sprint, having broken Michael Johnson's mark in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martyn Rooney</span> English sprinter

Martyn Joseph Rooney is an English sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres event. He reached the 400 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics and won bronze in the 4×400 metres relay. A mainstay on the anchor leg of the Great Britain and England 4 x 400 metre relay teams, at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics he won a silver medal with the Great Britain relay team, and bronze in the 2015 and 2017 World Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirani James</span> Grenadian sprinter

Kirani James is a Grenadian professional sprinter who specializes in the 200 and 400 metres. He won the 400 m at the World Championships in 2011, and the 2012 London Olympics. In the 400 metres, James also won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, thus becoming the first man to earn the full set of three medals in the centennial history of the event. He is Grenada's first and only Olympic medalist.

Aleksey Bazarov born 14 October 1963) is a retired USSR-born Israeli athlete who specialized in the 400 metres hurdles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demetrius Pinder</span> Bahamian sprinter

Demetrius Pinder is a Bahamian male track and field sprint athlete who competes in the 400 metres. His personal best for the event is 44.77 seconds. At the 2012 London Olympics he was a 400 m finalist and relay gold medallist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres</span>

The men's 400 metres competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, was held at the Olympic Stadium on 4–6 August. Forty-nine athletes from 38 nations competed. The event was won by Kirani James of Grenada, earning the country its first Olympic medal. Luguelín Santos's silver was the Dominican Republic's first medal in the men's 400 metres. Lalonde Gordon's bronze was Trinidad and Tobago's first medal in the event since 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Ryzhykova</span> Ukrainian hurdler

Anna Vasylivna Ryzhykova, nee Yaroshchuk is a Ukrainian track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles. At the European Athletics Championships, she won silver medals in 2012 and 2018, and bronze in 2022. Ryzhykova placed fifth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luguelín Santos</span> Dominican sprinter

Luguelín Miguel Santos Aquino is a Dominican sprinter, who specialises in the 400 m. He was the silver medallist in the event at the 2012 London Olympics at the age of eighteen. His personal best is 44.11 seconds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Solomon</span> Australian sprinter (born 1993)

Steven Solomon is an Australian Olympic sprinter. He is a six-time defending Australian 400 metres champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amit Ivry</span> Israeli swimmer

Amit Ivry is an Israeli Olympic swimmer, Maccabiah Games champion, and national record holder. She competes in the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and medley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Maccabiah Games</span>

The 19th Maccabiah were held during July 18 to 30, 2013.

Harry Kane is a British former Olympic hurdler. Born "Harry Cohen" to a Jewish family in England, he set British and Maccabiah Games records during his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Hudson-Smith</span> British sprinter

Matthew Hudson-Smith is a British track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. He holds, as of August 2023, the British and European record, running a personal best of 44.26 seconds for the distance set at the Budapest World Championships in 2023. He was the 2018 European Champion in 400 metres, and a member of the gold-winning teams in the 4 x 400 metre relay at the 2014 European Athletics Championships, with Great Britain and 2014 Commonwealth Games with England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jakub Krzewina</span> Polish sprinter

Jakub Krzewina is a Polish track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. A frequent competitor for Poland in the 4×400 metres relay, he has won two medals at the European Athletics Championships and reached the final at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He was also a relay silver medallist with Europe at the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keren Siebner</span> Israeli swimmer

Keren Michaela Siebner, is an Israeli Olympic swimmer, Israeli national champion, Maccabiah Games winner, and a national record holder in the 200m butterfly and 200m backstroke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Maccabiah Games</span> 20th Maccabiah Games

The 2017 Maccabiah Games, also referred to as the 20th Maccabiah Games, were the 20th edition of the Maccabiah Games. They took place from 4 to 17 July 2017, in Israel. The Maccabiah Games are open to Jewish athletes from around the world, and to all Israeli citizens regardless of their religion. A total of 10,000 athletes competed, a Maccabiah Games record, making the 2017 Maccabiah Games the third-largest sporting competition in the world. The athletes were from 85 countries, also a record. Countries represented for the first time included the Bahamas, Barbados, Cambodia, the Cayman Islands, Haiti, Malta, Morocco, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Trinidad. The athletes competed in 45 sports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diana Vaisman</span> Belarusian-born Israeli sprinter

Diana Vaisman is a Belarusian-born Israeli track and field athlete and sprinter. She holds the Israeli national record in the 100 metre sprint.

African Americans in Israel number at least 25,000, comprise several separate groups, including the groups of African American Jews who have immigrated from the United States to Israel making aliyah, non-Jewish African Americans who have immigrated to Israel for personal or business reasons, pro-athletes who formerly played in the major leagues in the United States before playing in Israel on local basketball and other sports teams, as well as foreign students studying in Israeli universities, businessmen, merchants, and guest workers, along with Israeli citizens of African American ancestry. African Americans have served in the Israel Defence Force, and have largely been accepted and into Israeli society, and have represented Israel in numerous international forums such as the Olympic Games, and the Eurovision Song Contest. African American-Israelis have had a major cultural impact in Israel, particular in the arts and culture, music and sports. In addition, there as a large community of Black Hebrew Israelites numbering at least 5,000 people, who originally immigrated to Israel from Chicago in the 1960s, and live mostly in the southern Israeli town of Dimona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bar Soloveychik</span> Israeli swimmer

Bar Soloveychik is an Israeli swimmer. He holds the Israeli national records in both the 400m freestyle, and the 800m free. At the 2018 European Junior Swimming Championships, he won a gold medal as part of Israel's 4×200 m freestyle relay. He attends the University of Minnesota, where he has swum sprint, mid-distance, and distance events, and holds school records in the 200 free and 500 free. He won a gold medal at the 2022 Maccabiah Games in the 400 m freestyle. He competes in 1500 m freestyle, 200 m freestyle, 400 m freestyle, 7.5 km open water, 800 m freestyle, 4x200 m freestyle, and 4x200m freestyle mixed.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Baku 2015 1St European Games - Athletes - BLAIR SANFORD Donald". Baku 2015. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. 1 2 Tal Ben Ezra (July 9, 2012). "Olympics/ Profile/ Proud to run for his adopted country". Haaretz.
  3. 1 2 3 "Former ASU runner Blair-Sanford races for Team Israel | Cronkite News". August 7, 2016.
  4. "Donald Sanford". Flotrack.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Donald Sanford Profile – Arizona State University Official Athletic Site". TheSunDevils.com.
  6. Sinai, Allon (July 12, 2012). "Introducing Israel's Olympians: Donald Sanford". The Jerusalem Post . Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  7. "Donald Sanford (track and field – Israel)". ASU News. July 20, 2012.
  8. 1 2 Allon Sinai (July 12, 2012). "Introducing Israel's Olympians: Donald Sanford". The Jerusalem Post.
  9. Yoel Goldman (August 4, 2012). "Israeli runner fails to qualify for semis in 400m after shoes stolen". The Times of Israel.
  10. David Segal (August 4, 2012). "Before Sprints at Olympic Track, Sitting Down at the Table", The New York Times
  11. Oren Aharoni (August 4, 2012). "Olympics: Israeli sprinter blames loss on stolen shoes". ynet.
  12. "Donald Sanford". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020.
  13. Shaul Adar (August 5, 2012). "Stolen shoes cause a nightmare for Israeli sprinter at London 2012". Haaretz.
  14. "Maccabiah athletes reach their moment of truth". The Times of Israel .
  15. 1 2 3 "Sanford dedicates Euro medal to IDF". The Jewish Chronicle. August 15, 2014.
  16. Allon Sinai (August 15, 2014). "Sanford makes history as first Israeli sprinter to win medal at European Championship". The Jerusalem Post.
  17. Green Fay Cashman (December 30, 2014). "Grapevine: The spice of life in Israel". The Jerusalem Post.
  18. "European Athletics". european-athletics. June 23, 2015.
  19. "Results" [usurped] , Baku 2015
  20. "Sanford fails to reach 400m semi-final".