Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Tanya-Gee Blake |
Nationality | United Kingdom Malta |
Born | London, England, United Kingdom | 16 January 1971
Height | 1.67 m (5 ft 5+1⁄2 in) |
Weight | 58 kg (128 lb) |
Sport | |
Sport | Athletics |
Event | Middle-distance running |
Club | Zurrieq Wolves |
Achievements and titles | |
Personal best(s) | 800 m: 1:59.56 (2003) 1500 m: 4:29.01 (2003) |
Tanya-Gee Blake (born 16 January 1971 in London, England, United Kingdom) is a retired middle-distance runner, who specialized in the 800 metres. Born in England, she represented Malta internationally. [1] Holding a dual citizenship to compete internationally, Blake set a historic milestone as the first Maltese athlete to break a two-minute barrier and a national record in the 800 metres at the 2003 Prefontaine Classic Grand Prix in Eugene, Oregon, United States, that guaranteed her a spot on her adopted nation's team for the 2004 Summer Olympics. [2] [3] During her athletic career, Blake trained for the Zurrieq Wolves track and field team. Pembroke also claimed victory in the 4x100m relay, accumulating 110 points after securing strong positions in most of the other events. [4]
Blake qualified for the Maltese squad in the women's 800 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, by registering her career best and an A-standard entry time of 1:59.56 from the Prefontaine Classic. [2] [5] [6] Unable to flaunt her stellar race from the Grand Prix a year earlier, Blake posted outside her national record of 2:19.34, but failed to advance further into the semifinals, as she was the last runner to cross the finish line in heat six. [7] [8]
Blake was born in England to a Maltese mother and American father. [9]
The 800 metres, or 800 meters, is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the first modern games in 1896. During the winter track season the event is usually run by completing four laps of an indoor 200-metre track.
The men's 800 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program was held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 25 to 28. Seventy-two athletes from 58 nations competed. The event was won by 0.16 seconds by Yuriy Borzakovskiy of Russia, the first medal for the nation in the event. Wilson Kipketer of Denmark became the 10th man to win a second medal in the 800 metres.
The women's 800 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 20 to 23.
Diane Dolores Modahl is an English former middle distance runner who specialised in the 800 metres. She won Gold in the 800 m title at the 1990 Commonwealth Games, Silver at the 1986 Commonwealth Games, and Bronze at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
The Prefontaine Classic is a track and field meet held at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Organized by the Oregon Track Club, it was previously one of the IAAF Grand Prix events, and is now part of the Diamond League. The meet is one of the few international competitions to host the imperial distances of the Mile run and 2 Mile run.
Craig Mottram is a former Australian long and middle-distance runner who specialised in the 5000 metre event.
Letitia Alma Vriesde is a former track and field athlete from Suriname, who specialised in the 800 metres but was also successful over 1500 metres. She is the first sportsperson from Suriname to compete at five Olympic Games. She won a silver medal at the 1995 World Championships and a bronze medal at the 2001 World Championships. Vriesde holds the South American records for the 800 metres, 1000 metres and 1500 metres and also for the 3000 metres (indoors).
Becky Lyne is a former international middle-distance runner from Great Britain, who won a bronze medal in the 800 metres at the 2006 European Athletics Championships.
Nicholas Boone Symmonds is an American YouTube personality and retired middle-distance runner from Boise, Idaho, who specialized in the 800 meters and 1500 meters. At Willamette University, he won seven NCAA Division III titles outdoors. Symmonds is a 6-time US national 800 meters champion. He has competed in the 800m at two Olympic Games, reaching the semi-finals in Beijing 2008, and finishing fifth in the London 2012 final, running a personal best of 1:42.95 behind David Rudisha's world record of 1:40.91. The following year, he won a silver medal in the 800 meters at the 2013 World Championships, having previously finished sixth in the 2009 final and fifth in the 2011 final.
Pamela Jelimo is a Kenyan middle-distance runner, specialising in the 800 metres. She won the gold medal in 800 metres at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing at the age of 18. She is the first Kenyan woman to win an Olympic gold medal and also the first Kenyan to win the Golden League Jackpot. She holds both the 800 m world junior record and the senior African record over the same distance. Jelimo is also one of the youngest women to win an Olympic gold medal for Kenya.
Jennifer Simpson is a retired American middle- and long-distance runner. She won the gold medal in the 1500 meters at the 2011 World Championships, silvers at the 2013 and 2017 World Championships, and a bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Mohammad Mutlak Khalif Al-Azemi is a Kuwaiti middle distance runner who specialises in the 800 metres. His 800 m personal bests of 1:44.13 minutes outdoors and 1:48.93 minutes indoors are the Kuwaiti records for the event. He represented his nation at the Olympic Games in 2004, 2008 and 2012, and has also made four appearances at the World Championships in Athletics.
Eunice Jepkoech Sum is a Kenyan middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 metres. She was the 2013 World champion and won the bronze medal in 2015. Sum took a silver and a gold at the 2012 and 2014 African Championships in Athletics respectively. She was also 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist and a three-time successive Diamond League winner in 2013–15.
Nicole Teter is an American middle distance runner, who specialized in the 800 metres. She is a three-time U.S. indoor champion, and a two-time Olympian. She also won a gold medal in the same category at the 2002 U.S. Outdoor Championships.
Brenda Martinez is an American middle-distance runner and Olympian. Born in Upland, California, she won a silver medal in the 800 meters at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow and finished first in the 800 meters at the 2014 Diamond League Final. She represented the US at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in the 1500 meters. Martinez twice set the world record in the Distance Medley Relay at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston; first on February 7, 2015, and then breaking her own record on January 28, 2017. In 2016, Martinez qualified for the U.S. Olympic team competing in the 1500 meters after beating Amanda Eccleston by 0.03 seconds.
Jan Sekpona is a retired Togolese middle-distance runner, who specialized in the 800 metres. Sekpona qualified for the Togolese squad in the men's 800 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens by attaining an entry time and a personal best of 1:52.40. Running against seven other athletes in heat three, Sekpona crossed the finish line by nearly ten minutes behind leader Wilson Kipketer of Denmark with an eighth-place time in 1:54.25. Sekpona failed to advance into the semifinals as he placed farther from two automatic slots for the next round and ranked no. 70 overall in the prelims. Sekpona was also appointed as the Togolese flag bearer by the National Olympic Committee in the opening ceremony.
Chanelle Price is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800-meter run. She has a personal record of 1:58.73 for the distance. She was the gold medalist at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in 2014.
Mindaugas Norbutas is a retired Lithuanian middle-distance runner, who specialized in the 800 metres. He represented his nation Lithuania at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and also recorded a national record and a personal best of 1:46.64 in the men's 800 metres upon placing sixth at the 2003 EWE Athletics Cup in Cuxhaven, Germany. Norbutas has also trained throughout his athletic career for Tutuvenai Sport Club in his native Kelmė, under his personal coach Povilas Sabaitis.
Kate Grace is an American middle-distance runner. A multiple All-American runner for Yale University, she turned professional in 2011. Grace competed for the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics, making it to the final of the 800 metres.
The Malta Amateur Athletic Association is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Malta. Matthew Micallef St John Athletics Stadium in Marsa is the home of Maltese Athletics. The objectives for which the Association is established are to encourage, promote, develop and control athletics in Malta amongst all as a means of promoting physical health and well-being.